Black and White
by phoenixfire1995
Summary: Halfway through his journey in the Unova Region, Nero Hishiro has a new goal to go with his main one, save his mind controlled friend, N, and stop Team Plasma from achieving their nefarious goals. Helping him with this are his girlfriend Hilda, friends Spectra, Cheren, and Bianca, and all of their Pokémon. Part 3 of 4.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

I was standing at the counter of a small shop next to the Pokémon Center in Nimbasa City. There were bicycles, motorcycles, and even a unicycle lined up along the walls. I wasn't here for any of those things; I was just here to buy an attachment to my motorcycle.

Finally, the shop owner came back, pushing what I was here to buy. A sidecar.

"Thank you," I said, handing him the money needed to buy it.

"Thank you, have a nice day," the shop owner responded.

I nodded and pushed the sidecar out of the shop. My girlfriend, Hilda White, and friend, Spectra Flame, were waiting outside next to my motorcycle.

Hilda was a childhood friend who graduated from the Unova Academy and traveled with me across the Unova Region as I challenged the Unova League. Along the way, she admitted to having a crush on me, and our relationship blossomed from there.

Spectra and I met on some bad terms. I woke up in the middle of the night while camping out on Route 1 and she was stealing my food. I tried stopping her, but she hit several of my pressure points and stole some of my food, money, and my motorcycle. We were a part of a special set of random people who could communicate with Pokémon. N is another one of these people. I met her a couple more times over the process of my journey, and we traded possession of my motorcycle much to my annoyance, but over time, she grew on me and she became a great friend.

It has been two days since our friend, N, became brainwashed by the evil Team Plasma, an organization claiming that they want to liberate Pokémon from their Trainers, but have put mind control devices onto wild Pokémon and had them attack people. N had been possessed by the spirit of Zekrom, a Legendary Pokémon that had been residing inside the Black Stone, which was stolen from the Nacrene City Museum. I had been possessed by the White Stone and the spirit of Reshiram and we fought in our powerful White Flare Form and Black Lightning Form.

N had also been in a relationship with Spectra before becoming a mind slave to Team Plasma, but he basically broke up with her after she refused to join him and Team Plasma. That devastated her, and I pushed for her to join Hilda and me on the rest of my journey across the Unova Region in hopes to rescuing N.

I pushed the sidecar over to my motorcycle and stood straight, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

"Damn, it's hot today," I muttered.

Hilda handed me a bottle of water and I thanked her as I attached the sidecar to my motorcycle. I opened the small trunk in the back of the sidecar and looked at Spectra.

"There, you can put your things in there," I said

She nodded and put a single bag in the trunk before closing it.

I could tell she was still hurting over the situation that happened with N.

"Spectra, we're going to save him," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"I know…," she muttered, climbing into the sidecar.

Hilda and I put our things into the luggage bag. I straddled my motorcycle and Hilda climbed on behind me, wrapping her arms around my midsection.

"Say goodbye to Nimbasa City," I said.

"Bye Nimbasa City," Hilda bid her farewells.

"Good riddance," Spectra muttered.

I revved my engine and we rode out of Nimbasa City.

The next city we were heading for was Driftveil City. That was where the next Gym was and I was looking to get my fifth Gym Badge.  
I did know; however, that we were surely going to have to stop in between the cities. We'll probably meet one of our other friends, Cheren or Bianca, or this jackass we came across named Alex.

Alex was a Trainer who had picked the Fire-type Charmander as his Starter Pokémon. He; however, abandoned Charmander at Professor Juniper's laboratory after he couldn't use Fire-type moves and caught another one he nicknamed Lizardo.

I arrived at the laboratory and related to Charmander's situation through my own experience of my father abandoning me. I caught Charmander and taught him how to use Fire-type moves. We also met Alex along the way and Charmander realized how cruel and fucked up his previous Trainer was, eventually evolving into a Charmeleon after a battle with him.

He also had a Nidorino that he released after it "underperformed" in a battle and Hilda caught him.

Along with Charmeleon, my team consists of Honchkrow, Zoroark, Cubone, Haunter, and Sandile.

Honchkrow was formerly a Murkrow that hung out by my house when I was growing up. I befriended the Dark/Flying-type Pokémon and when I was leaving on my journey, I allowed him to come along with me.

Zoroark was formerly a sassy Zorua I caught on my way to Accumula Town. She's still sassy, but now it's something to be expected of her.

Cubone was an orphaned Pokémon I adopted in Striaton City. He is the definite baby of the group and is on good terms with Zoroark and Haunter.

Haunter was a Pokémon who tried to steal some sandwiches, but I caught her in the process. She loves pulling pranks on people.

Sandile is a Pokémon I caught before I got to Nimbasa City and he loves biting me on the head. It never draws any blood since it's just a love bite.

These are my friends and I wouldn't trade them away for anything. We've been through so much together. Charmeleon helped me obtain all four of my badges, Honchkrow has helped me obtain two of them, Zoroark has helped me obtain two of them, Cubone has helped me obtain two of them, Haunter has helped me obtain two of them, and Sandile has helped me obtain one of them.

They also fought alongside me when I was ambushed by a trio of ninjas from Team Plasma called the Shadow Triad.

My friends; human and Pokémon, have made this journey unforgettable and definitely something I can't wait to tell my children if I were to have any.

I kept thinking of all of the positives in my journey so far as we rode out of Nimbasa City.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

Hilda, Spectra, and I rode out of Nimbasa City and onto Route 5.

Route 5 was about a ten mile long stretch of road between Nimbasa City and the Driftveil Drawbridge. There were forests on either side and right outside of Nimbasa City were a whole bunch of street performers. They were dancing, playing music, and other creative things.

They were consuming the roadway I needed to drive on and that was seriously starting to piss me off.

"Come on, move it!" I snapped.

"Mellow out man, try dancing a bit more," one man responded to me.

"Try holding back on the marijuana," I responded.

The man only laughed at my response and danced away.

"Don't worry about him, Nero, I stole his wallet," Spectra said, pulling out a rainbow color wallet.

She smiled slightly and that was the best sign I had about her for a while.

"Spectra…," I muttered.

"I know, throw it back," she responded.

"No, keep it. That guy needs to learn a lesson," I said.

Finally, we pushed our way through a majority of the crowd and I was able to actually drive. I then saw Cheren off the side of the road and stopped.

"Cheren, what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I'm here to meet the Unova Champion. I heard that he was supposed to stop by here," Cheren revealed.

I got off my motorcycle and approached him.

"Are you serious?" I asked him.

"I'm always serious," he responded.

"What's going on?" Hilda asked me as her and Spectra approached us.

"The Unova Champion is supposed to be coming here," I said.

"That's cool," Spectra said.

"I know, right?" I responded.

"Yeah, I hear the Champion is a great guy," a tall man with reddish orange hair said to us.

We all turned and faced the man. He smiled.

"He's handsome too," the man responded.

"You've met him?" Cheren asked.

"You can say that," the man responded.

"Cheren Black," Cheren introduced himself.

"Hilda White," Hilda introduced herself.

"Spectra Flame," Spectra introduced herself.

"I'm Nero Hishiro, what's your name?" I asked after introducing myself.

"My name is Alder," the man introduced himself.

"Wait, you're the Unova Champion!" Cheren exclaimed, pointing up at Alder.

"Yes I am, young man," Alder responded, nodding at Cheren.

"Why didn't you tell us who you were in the first place? If I were Champion, I'd be announcing it to everyone," I said.

"And it's that kind of attitude that causes people to grow tired of a person. I don't want to be known for my title, but who I am as a person," Alder explained.

"I think I understand," I responded.

"Ah, you must be very intelligent then," Alder said

"Not really. Cheren here is the smart one, I'm the cool one," I responded, pointing out Cheren.

Cheren glared at me for putting him under the spotlight.

"So, Cheren is it? What is it you do?" Alder asked.

"I'm on a Journey," Cheren admitted.

"Ah, I remember when I went on my first Journey. Good times, what is your goal on this journey?" Alder asked.

"To win the Unova League and challenge the Elite 4 and challenge you," Cheren said.

"Good luck on your goal, because I'm winning the Unova League," I said.

"You two have the same goal?" Alder asked.

Cheren and I nodded in response to Alder's question.

"What do you plan to do if one of you were to achieve this goal?" Alder asked.

I was stumped. I never thought about that really.

"I don't know…," Cheren responded.

"You see Nero and Cheren, if you were just set on achieving one, single goal and you achieved it, but didn't have anything to do afterward, what else is there for you to do?" Alder asked.

"What do you do then? You're the Champion, what goals do you have?" I asked, catching onto Alder's point.

"Are you sure you're not the smart one?" Alder asked me.

"Oh, I'm sure," I responded, chuckling at Cheren's expense.

"Well, my goal now is to help up and coming Trainers such as yourself to keep setting goals even after you achieve one. Keep moving forward even when you think you've gotten to the end. If you're standing at the edge of a cliff, well then you need to fly to the horizon and beyond," Alder explained.

Cheren and I looked at him in admiration.

"Now, I bet you both want to battle me right now," Alder said.

"Of course!" Cheren and I shouted.

"I'll take you both on at once!" Alder responded.

"Both of us? Isn't that a bit unfair?" Cheren asked.

"Not at all," Alder responded.

"I'm up for it if you are, Cheren," I said.

"Let's do it," Cheren responded.

"Good, now let's go Bouffalant!" Alder called out.

I pulled out my Pokédex to get this Pokémon's information.

"Bouffalant, the Bash Buffalo Pokémon. They are known to charge so wildly that if a train were to enter their territory, they would send it flying," my Pokédex said.

Bouffalant is a bovine Pokémon with a large, dark afro on its head. Two large, curving horns, each with two golden growths resembling rings, protrude from the afro. It has a shaggy brown hide that ends at its knees and does not cover its face. A large, gray nose sits at the end of its short, beige snout, and its yellow eyes are partly hidden by its hair. There are black tear markings directly below its eyes. Each of its beige legs has a single, gray hoof and its tail it a stubby tuft of fur. A territorial Pokémon, it will headbutt anyone that attempts to invade its territory. Protected by its afro, which absorbs damage, its headbutts are strong enough to derail a train and send it flying.

"Go Charmeleon!" I called out.

"Go Servine!" Cheren called out.

"Does one of you mind refereeing for our battle?" Alder asked Hilda and Spectra.

"I'll do it. Nero needs his cheerleader," Spectra responded.

"Servine, use Leaf Blade!" Cheren called out.

"Charmeleon, use Dragon Claw!" I called out.

Our Pokémon ran in toward Bouffalant with their various moves and delivered blows that caused the bulky Normal-type Pokémon to slide backward, but he stood up strong.

"Powerful moves from the both of you, but you're going to need more than power alone to pose a threat to Bouffalant and myself," Alder commented.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!" I called out.

Charmeleon breathed out a stream of fire onto Bouffalant, but the Bash Buffalo Pokémon simply lowered his head and the attack was blocked by his afro.

"Nice try, Nero," Alder said.

"Cheren, now!" I called out.

"Servine, use Leaf Blade!" Cheren shouted.

Servine had used Charmeleon's Flamethrower as a diversion so he could get in behind Bouffalant. He swiped out the Normal-type's legs from beneath him and the Bash Buffalo Pokémon fell onto his side.

"Impressive. Using Charmeleon as a diversion so Servine could get in close," Alder said as Bouffalant got back to his feet.

"Let's go all out on this next move," I said.

"Let's," Cheren agreed.

"Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage, repeatedly!" I shouted.

Charmeleon fired ball of draconic energy over and over again, hitting Bouffalant repeatedly.

"Leaf Tornado, Servine!" Cheren called out.

Servine spun onto his back and a tornado of leaves swarmed over Bouffalant.

"Flamethrower!" I called out.

Charmeleon exhaled a stream of fire into the tornado of leaves and it became a swirling vortex of burning leaves. It all hit Bouffalant.

"Finish this with Head Charge," Alder said.

Bouffalant charged out of the burning twister of leaves and hit both Charmeleon and Servine simultaneously knocking them out.

"Charmeleon and Servine is unable to battle, the winner is Alder!" Spectra announced.

"He took us down with one move… he really is a Champion," I muttered.

"He is powerful," Cheren added.

Alder suddenly brought out a handful of berries and fed them to his Bouffalant by hand.

"You both did well, we all did great," Alder said, walking over to feed both Charmeleon and Servine some berries to revive them.

Our Pokémon stood to their feet and looked like they hadn't even gone through a battle.

"_Thank you for the chance to battle_," Servine said.

"You're welcome Servine," Alder said.

"You can understand Pokémon?" I asked him.

"Yes, and I understand you can too," Alder said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I've heard many things from the Gym Leaders you've met so far, Hero of Truth. You impress me, and I hope to battle you soon," Alder said, returning his Bouffalant into his Pokéball.

"You're leaving?" Cheren asked.

"Yes, it's time for me to make my leave, bye everyone," Alder said, leaving us.

Cheren and I looked at each other.

"See you in the League Finals, whoever wins that, battles Alder," I said.

"And that will be me," Cheren responded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

Cheren had left on ahead to Driftveil City while Spectra, Hilda, and I stopped to have some lunch at the start of the Driftveil Drawbridge.

I was sitting on the ground, resting my back against my motorcycle, and ate at a sandwich Hilda made for me.

Hilda was filling up bowls of Pokémon food for all of our Pokémon.

"Charmeleon, Honchkrow, Zoroark, Cubone, Haunter, and Sandile come over here for a second," I said after finishing my sandwich.

Charmeleon, Zoroark, Cubone, and Sandile walked over while Honchkrow flew over and Haunter floated over.

I sat there staring at my Pokémon and struggled to say what I had wanted to say.

"_Nero, are you okay_?" Charmeleon asked.

"Yeah… I just don't know what I want to say right now," I responded.

Sandile then jumped onto my head and latched his jaws around my skull. He wasn't biting down hard, just gently nibbling.

"Sandile, why do you always do this?" I asked him, pulling him off my head.

"_You have a chewable head_," Sandile said.

I sweat-dropped and put him down on the ground.

"I want to do some training while we're here," I said, getting to my feet.

I walked over to Spectra as she ate the sandwich Hilda made for her.

"Hey," I said, sitting next to her.

"Hi…," she muttered, finishing her sandwich.

"So what do you think of her sandwiches?" I asked.

"They're good," Spectra responded.

I nodded in agreement and looked down at Spectra's bare feet.

"Why is it that you don't wear shoes?" I asked her.

Her silver eyes stared back at me questioningly. Spectra sighed and moved the fringe that covered one of those silver eyes.

"I don't like feeling constricted. I like the freedom of my toes grabbing the grass beneath my feet," Spectra said, gripping the grass with her toes.

"You really like independence don't you?" I asked her.

"Yes. That's why Team Plasma sickens me. Taking control of the minds of Pokémon… despicable bastards," Spectra spat on the ground.

She stood to her feet and started walking away.

"Spectra, wait, I need your help," I said, running up to her.

"Why my help?" she asked.

"You have skills in both battling and hand-to-hand combat. I need practice battling and fighting in case the Shadow Triad comes back. I don't want to rely on my White Flare Form all the time especially if I do get killed in it…," I said.

Spectra looked at me and smiled.

"Alright, let's go," she said, getting into a fighting stance.

I smiled and got into my own fighting stance. Spectra jabbed her fingers toward my chest, but I blocked them. I knew her main game was to hit my pressure points and temporarily paralyze me. Mine was to overpower her and pin her.

Spectra tried again to hit me in the chest, but I deflected her arm away and put my palm into her chin. I had placed my foot behind her heel and with a simple shove, she fell onto her back.

I backed away and smiled down at her.

"Is that all you got?" I asked her.

Spectra sighed, stood to her feet, and brushed herself off.

"Let's just have our Pokémon train," she muttered.

"Everything okay?" I asked her.

"Yes, let's go Hishiro," Spectra said.

I nodded and she called over all her Pokémon.

"Sparx will spar with Charmeleon, Aura with Cubone, Espio with Haunter, Shadow with Sandile, Icicle with Zoroark, and Sweetheart with Honchkrow," Spectra said.

"Sweetheart?" I questioned.

"You haven't met him yet have you?" Spectra asked.

"No, I haven't," I said.

"Sweetheart, come here please!" Spectra called.

I pulled out my Pokédex for this new Pokémon.

"Togekiss, the Jubilee Pokémon. It shares many blessings with people who respect one another's rights and avoid needless strife," my Pokédex said.

Togekiss is a white, egg-shaped, avian Pokémon with broad, triangular wings that allow it to soar gracefully, often performing aerial tricks and maneuvers. Its underbelly is dotted with small red and blue triangular spots. It has very small feet which are set close together, making them somewhat awkward for moving about on the ground. The former spikes on its head have grown into a three-pointed crest. The middle point is white all the way to the tip, but the left and right spikes are tipped in blue and red respectively.

Togekiss are generally friendly and caring Pokémon. They tend to avoid conflict, supposedly never appearing where strife is occurring. It used to live in wilderness near human establishments, but increase of strife and overtly negative emotions in society drive it away, which reflects their rarity. It prefers to live in regions that are more peaceful and harmonious. It is said to share blessings with those who love another. However, Togekiss are also powerful fighters capable of using a wide variety of attacks. They will protect their young, Togepi, with miraculous care.

"Sounds like a plan. You guys… and girls… do whatever you can to knock out your sparring partner," I instructed my group.

"You all do the same," Spectra instructed her group.

We then stepped back to let them spar.

Charmeleon swiped in with a Dragon Claw, but Sparx blocked it with an Iron Tail. Sparx then charged into Charmeleon with a Volt Tackle, but he took the entire hit, and threw Sparx off.

"_Is that all you got, rodent_?" Charmeleon asked.

"_Not even close, lizard reject_," Sparx responded.

Honchkrow flew up high with Sweetheart close behind him. Sweetheart formed an Aura Sphere on the tip of his wing and tossed it up toward Honchkrow, who turned back to block the Fighting-type move with a Shadow Ball. The two attacks hit and exploded in midair. Honchkrow then dove through the smoke from the explosion and hit Sweetheart with an Aerial Ace. Sweetheart spun in the air, but then came back and used Recover to nullify Honchkrow's move.

Zoroark and Icicle clashed with a flurry of Night Slashes. Icicle did a back flip up into the air to avoid Zoroark's last Night Slash and then used Blizzard down onto her. Ice hardened the tip of her fur, but it all melted away as she fired a Flamethrower up at Icicle, who used Shadow Ball to block.

Cubone looked up at Aura with a scared expression on his face, nervous to spar with her.

"_It's okay, little one_," Aura reassured the Ground-type.

Cubone nodded and threw his bone at Aura. She caught it one-handed and turned to face Cubone with a smug look on her face, but was suddenly hit in the chest by a Headbutt.

Haunter dodged around Espio's Psybeam and responded with a Dark Pulse, but Espio responded with a Swift.

Sandile used Dig to avoid Shadow's Quick Attack and reappeared beneath the Dark-type. Shadow predicted this accurately and used Sandile to jump up into the air, firing a Swift attack down onto the Ground/Dark-type Pokémon. Sandile immediately responded with a Stone Edge attack and both attacks hit one another in midair.

Spectra and I smiled together at our Pokémon's sparring.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

After our Pokémon were done sparring, Spectra and I returned them to their Pokéballs, and joined Hilda in helping her clean up so we can get across Driftveil City before the day ends.

"That was a great sparring match," I said to Spectra.

"Yeah, our Pokémon sure are strong," Spectra said.

"Mine are stronger though," I said.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Spectra asked me.

"My Pokémon are stronger," I said.

"Oh come on Espio kicked Haunter's butt," Spectra responded.

"Zoroark beat Icicle," I pointed out.

"Shadow beat Sandile," Spectra countered.

"Honchkrow beat Sweetheart," I countered.

"Aura beat Cubone," Spectra countered.

"And Charmeleon beat Sparx," I said.

"We're equally strong then," Spectra said, narrowing her eyes at me.

"I still got four Badges," I said, bringing out my Badge Case to show them off.

"So do I," Spectra said, revealing her own set of four Badges.

"How in the hell did you get those? Did you steal them?" I asked her.

"Nope, I earned them," Spectra responded.

"So you're challenging the Unova League as well?" I asked.

"Wow, you catch on fast skunk-head," Spectra said.

Hilda laughed out loud at Spectra's nickname for me.

"Let's just get to Driftveil City," I grumbled, sitting on my motorcycle's seat.

Hilda, still laughing at my expense, sat behind me, and Spectra climbed into the sidecar.

I then drove my motorcycle over the Driftveil Drawbridge and entered the city it was named after.

I parked my motorcycle outside of the Pokémon Center and got off it.

"I'm going to heal all of our Pokémon," I said, grabbing all sixteen Pokéballs.

"I'll go find the Gym," Spectra said.

"I'll go book us two rooms at a motel," Hilda said.

We then went our separate ways. I carried all sixteen Pokéballs into the Pokémon Center and smiled at the Nurse Joy behind the counter.

"Good afternoon," she greeted me.

"Hi, is it possible for you to heal my friends' and my Pokémon?" I asked to be polite.

"Of course, it's my job after all," Nurse Joy said.

"Thank you," I responded, handing over all of the Pokéballs.

Nurse Joy laid them all in a tray and put them all through the healing machine. It took about five minutes and I had already taken a seat in the lobby.

"Your Pokémon are all ready," Nurse Joy said.

"Thank you again," I said, approaching the counter.

I picked up all of the Pokéballs and made my leave.

"Have a nice day, sir," Nurse Joy said to me as I walked out the door.

"You too!" I called back.

I got back to my motorcycle and got tired of carrying all of the Pokéballs. I then brought out all sixteen of our Pokémon and put the empty Pokéballs in the sidecar.

I sat down on my motorcycle and looked at all of our Pokémon.

"How are you all doing?" I asked.

I got a chorus of responses, some positive, some negative.

"_I like how I'm surrounded by so many pretty ladies_," Honchkrow said, winking at Zoroark, Haunter, Bayleef, Kirlia, Sparx, Aura, Icicle, Espio, and Shadow.

The rest of us backed away from them and Honchkrow soon found himself surrounded.

"_Uh oh… now ladies, there's plenty of me to go around_," Honchkrow said, growing nervous.

"_There will be a lot of you to go around after we're done ripping you to shreds_," Zoroark said.

Honchkrow made a hasty getaway for the sky and was safe from all but one of the female Pokémon.

Haunter floated up next to him.

"_I wouldn't have ripped you to shreds_," Haunter revealed.

Hilda then came over with a smile on her face.

"I got two rooms at the Driftveil Motel," she said.

"Good," I responded, nodding at her.

"Let's go find Spectra," Hilda said.

"Good idea," I responded, grabbing all of our Pokéballs.

Hilda, all of the Pokémon, and I walked through Driftveil City until we found the Gym. Spectra was standing outside of it and looked like she was waiting for us to arrive.

"About time, what did you two have sex while I was waiting?" Spectra asked.

Hilda and I turned red and glared at Spectra.

Spectra's Pokémon ran over to her and I threw all six Pokéballs at her. Spectra caught two of them and returned Espio and Shadow. Aura caught two more, handed them over to Spectra who returned Icicle and Sweetheart. Aura and Sparx caught their own Pokéballs.

Spectra returned them as well and walked into the Driftveil City Gym.

Hilda and I followed and the entire inside of the Gym was a rock cavern.

"So, do I have some challengers!?" a burly voice called out at us from across the Gym.

A man appeared wearing a Western getup complete with a ten-gallon hat.

"Yes, my name is Spectra Flame, and I challenge the Gym," Spectra responded.

"A girl who lacks enough common sense to wear shoes? It's gonna be a short battle," the man responded.

"We'll see," Spectra responded.

"My name is Clay, I am the Driftveil City Gym Leader," the man introduced himself as a robotic referee rose in between him and Spectra.

"This three-on-three Gym Battle between the Driftveil City Gym Leader, Clay, and the challenger Spectra Flame will now commence!" the referee announced.

"Go Icicle!" Spectra called out her nicknamed Weavile.

"Go Palpitoad!" Clay called out his first Pokémon.

I brought out my Pokédex from where Hilda and I were standing.

"Palpitoad, the Vibration Pokémon. It lives in the water and on land. It uses its long, sticky tongue to immobilize its opponents," my Pokédex said.

Palpitoad is an amphibious, bipedal Pokémon with an ovoid body. It is mostly blue, with a tan oval marking lined with black stretching from the bottom of its belly to its forehead. Its black eyes are round. Its upper lip is round as well, and curves down sharply at the corners. Inside its mouth is a long, sticky tongue used to immobilize and capture prey. Its feet are small with three toes each, and its tail is oval and white. Three large, half-spheres encircle its head, each one light blue with a black base. There are four, round, light blue bumps starting on either side of its lower body and stretching across its back. The bumps on its head can be vibrated to create either waves or earthquakes.

"Begin!" the referee shouted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

"Icicle, use Blizzard!" Spectra called out.

Icicle jumped up into the air and exhaled a freezing wind down upon Palpitoad. Ice formed over Palpitoad, but the Water/Ground-type Pokémon shook it off.

"Now use Mud Bomb!" Clay ordered.

Palpitoad's long tongue came out and fired a big ball of mud at Icicle.

"Dodge it and use Shadow Ball!" Spectra called out.

Icicle dodged a ball of mud and fired the purple blob of ghostly energy, hitting Palpitoad.

"Night Slash!" Spectra called out.

Shadow energy covered Icicle's claws and she ran in and hit Palpitoad.

"Finish this with Ice Beam!" Spectra called out.

Icicle fired the bolts of icy energy from her claws, hitting Palpitoad, and knocking it out.

"Palpitoad is unable to battle!" the referee announced.

Clay returned his Pokémon back to its Pokéball and smiled over at Spectra.

"Impressive, using speed," Clay commented.

Spectra didn't respond, but did return Icicle.

"Go Aura," she said.

"Go Krokorok!" Clay called out.

I brought out my Pokédex yet again.

"Krokorok, the Desert Croc Pokémon. Protected by thin membranes, their eyes can see even in the dead of night. They live in groups of a few individuals," my Pokédex said.

Krokorok is a reptilian Pokémon with a mostly tan body, pink stomach, black back, and long tail. It is classified as a quadruped, though it is more often seen on two legs. It has six thick, black stripes on its body: one at shoulder level, one around its midsection, one around its hips, and three on its tail. Each stripe is topped with a triangular spike on its back. The stripes around its midsection cross two spikes, one on each side of its back. Its arms are short and thin, with a black band around them at the elbow. Each hand contains three short fingers, each with a white claw. Its legs are thick with a band around each ankle, and a stripe above the knee that does not wrap around. Its flat feet each have three white claws. Krokorok's head is ovoid with a long snout, and small eyes surrounded by a thick black membrane. Two of its front and rear teeth are visible overlapping its lower jaw. A black stripe sits on the bridge of the snout just behind its large nostrils.

Krokorok prefers to live in the desert, usually in small groups. The black membrane surrounding its eyes protects them from sandstorms and acts as a thermal detector. This allows Krokorok to see the temperature of different objects, which also gives it exceptional night vision.

"Begin!" the referee announced.

"Krokorok, use Dig!" Clay called out.

Krokorok dug underground and disappeared from sight.

"Locate it using your aura and then use Force Palm," Spectra muttered under her breath for only Aura to hear.

Aura's ears lifted up and she began locating Krokorok. The Ground/Dark-type Pokémon jumped out of the ground in front of Aura, who was waiting with a Force Palm. The attack launched Krokorok into the back wall and knocked it out with one move.

Clay gritted his teeth and returned Krokorok to its Pokéball.

"Go Excadrill!" Clay called out.

"Excadrill, the Subterrene Pokémon. Forming a drill with its steel claws and head, it can bore through a steel plate, no matter how thick it is," my Pokédex said.

Excadrill has a dark brown body with diagonal, red splotches. Three markings are on its front, with two under each arm, and two on its back. It has short legs with small, narrow feet, each containing three toes. Its small white face is long and thin, tipped by its pink nose. Its eyes are set back, on either side of the bridge of the nose. Under them, on each side, are two thin, red stripes. A large blade roughly twice as large as its face extends from its forehead. The top of the blade contains two smaller blades, resembling fins. Its arms are thick and have three large blades instead of fingers, with two smaller blades on top of the middle ones. On its knees, halfway down its arm, and just behind where its forehead meets its face, are small red spots.

Excadrill can straighten its entire body, allowing it to spin like a drill. It has the ability to cut through iron and steel plating. It uses its excellent digging abilities to build complex tunnels for its nest at more than 300 feet below the surface. Its tunneling can be both beneficial and harmful to humans, as it can help workers with its swift digging prowess, but it can be detrimental to underground structures, such as Subway tunnels.

"Use Drill Run!" Clay called out.

Excadrill put its claws together and began spinning like a drill. The Ground/Steel-type went straight for Aura.

"Jump over and Aura Sphere," Spectra sighed.

Aura jumped over Excadrill and fired two Aura Spheres into its back. Excadrill skidded across the ground and lay unconscious at Hilda's feet.

"Excadrill is unable to battle; therefore, Spectra Flame is victorious!" the referee announced.

"By God…," Clay muttered, returning his Excadrill back to its Pokéball.

Spectra returned Aura to her Pokéball and smiled slightly.

She met Clay in the middle of the battlefield.

"Congratulations, Spectra, here is the Quake Badge," Clay said, handing over the Badge.

It is shaped like a vertical piece of earth, the top half of which has cracked and slid out of place, resembling the result of an earthquake.

"Thank you, I do think it's funny how right you were before the match started. It was a quick match," Spectra said.

Clay narrowed his eyes at the grinning klepto.

"Give me back my wallet or I'll ship you off to the jail," Clay growled.

Spectra simply tossed the Gym Leader back his wallet and shrugged it off before leaving.

"Wow… beat him without losing one of her own Pokémon, and then got away with stealing his wallet. Spectra sure is something…," Hilda said.

I nodded and met with Clay in the center of the battlefield.

"I challenge you to a Gym Battle, Clay," I said.

"You'll have to wait. My Pokémon are exhausted and…," Clay responded, pausing when he got a good luck at my face.

"I know you…," he said.

"Let me guess, the other Gym Leaders told you?" I asked him.

"Yes, you're the Hero of Truth. Why in the world would Reshiram choose a child?" Clay asked.

"_I sometimes ask myself the same question_," Reshiram spoke to me.

"I don't believe you're this supposed Hero of Truth," Clay said.

"Well you should believe it. I stopped Team Plasma from stealing the White Stone, stopped Team Plasma from destroying Castelia City," I said.

"You'll be allowed to challenge me to a Gym Battle after you prove to me you really are a hero," Clay said, ignoring me.

"How in the hell am I supposed to do that?" I asked.

"By doing a pair of tasks for me," Clay said.

He then got in my face.

"Without the aid of your friends," he growled.

I narrowed my eyes and accepted.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

I was standing outside of the Pokémon Center, grabbing a few supplies for the first task Clay wanted me to do.

"Nero, why are you doing this?" Hilda asked me.

"I want to prove to him that I am a hero," I said.

"Why do you want to be a hero so badly? Why do you jump in front of every dangerous thing and tackle it head-on?" Hilda asked me.

"I don't know. It's just the first thing I do," I admitted.

"Nero, you're going to end up getting killed…," Hilda said.

I looked at her and I could tell that this was starting to get hard for her.

"Hilda… I'll be fine. I'm going to go investigate this report at the Cold Storage which is just south of Driftveil and then I'll be right back to see what else Clay wants me to do," I said.

Hilda nodded and I hugged her.

"I'll be back," I said.

I then pulled away and turned to leave for the Cold Storage.

*Begin Flashback*

"_I have gotten a report about something strange going on in the Cold Storage. It's just south of Driftveil and I want you to investigate it and report back to me what you were able to find," Clay said. _

"_Sounds easy enough," I said. _

"_And again, you have to do this all by yourself if you want to have the opportunity to battle me," Clay reminded me. _

*End Flashback*

I walked out of Driftveil City and entered a strange shipping yard. It was a labyrinth of shipping containers.

"Where the hell is the Cold Storage?" I asked myself as I traversed the maze of shipping containers.

I turned around a corner and threw myself back around it. I looked past a container and saw three Team Plasma Grunts standing near a container.

"What the hell are they doing here?" I questioned to myself.

I brought out Haunter.

"Haunter, go check what those Team Plasma Grunts are doing over there for me, and please stay hidden," I requested of her.

"_Sure thing_," she responded, phasing through the shipping container I was hiding behind.

She phased through a few more and watched the Team Plasma Grunts open a few shipping containers. Inside of them were more of those tanks that Colress had used back in Pinwheel Forest. Haunter then phased back through the shipping containers over to me.

"_They're shipping those tanks that we fought back in Pinwheel Forest_," she revealed.

"How many?" I asked.

"_At least half a dozen give or take_," Haunter said.

"Alright, we're ready to ship out!" we heard a Grunt call out.

"Damn it, I don't have the time to go get Clay… We need to stop them from shipping those tanks," I said to Haunter, bringing out the rest of my Pokémon.

I stepped around the corner and faced down with the three Grunts.

"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower!" I called out, alerting them to my presence.

Charmeleon exhaled a stream of fire onto the Grunts, who ducked to avoid being burned to a crisp.

"Shit, it's Hishiro, I repeat it's Hishiro!" one of the Grunts called out into his radio.

Suddenly the shipping containers next to me were knocked over by an unseen force.

White light came over me and I turned into my White Flare Form. I caught the shipping containers before they could crush my Pokémon or me.

I threw them aside and saw Colress operating some kind of machine. It had two long legs connected to a cockpit where he was sitting.

"_**How many machines do you have to build for me to destroy**_?" Reshiram and I asked.

Colress didn't respond and simply had four arms extend out of his mecha toward me.

I shot off through the air and shoulder checked Colress' newest machine right in the front of the cockpit, shattering the glass, and knocking the mecha over. I stood on top of the mecha and glared down at Colress.

"Right into my trap," he said.

I looked at the Team Plasma scientist questioningly, but was then electrocuted from behind by N in his Black Lightning Form. I yelled out in pain and dropped to my knees.

"_**Told you he'd go for you**_," N and Zekrom growled, continuing to electrocute me.

I pushed off Colress' machine and launched up into the air. I turned and collided with N in a fiery crash.

"_**Stop this N**_!" I snapped, grabbing the front of his shirt.

He kicked me in the chest and knocked me off of him.

"_**Retreat, now. We got what we needed to get**_," N and Zekrom said, flying off.

Colress and the Grunts disappeared in a veil of black smoke, leaving my Pokémon and me alone in the shipping yard.

I returned to my regular form and rejoined my Pokémon.

"Are you all okay?" I asked.

I got nods. I then turned toward one of the shipping containers and noticed it was covered in ice. I walked into it and could see my breath.

"Damn it's cold in here," I muttered.

I looked around and saw some Team Plasma gear lying around.

"What in the hell were they doing?" I questioned.

Clay then arrived in the Cold Storage.

"What the hell happened?" he asked me.

"Team Plasma was doing something here and I'm trying to figure out what," I said.

"Where are they?" Clay asked.

"They escaped," I muttered.

"You let them escape!?" Clay accused me.

"No, I was tricked into attacking one of their higher-ups and the Grunts did what they needed to do," I responded.

"And do you have any idea what that was?" Clay asked.

"No," I responded.

"Well then, we'll have an investigator look over the Cold Storage for more evidence. I need you to take the next boat to Liberty Island," Clay said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Team Plasma has been sighted there," he responded.

I nodded and returned all of my Pokémon back to their Pokéballs. I walked out of the Cold Storage and out of the shipping yard to get ready for my final task.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

It was a couple hours later and I was standing in the front of the boat that was to take me to Liberty Island. It was starting to get dark and I could see the skyline lights of Castelia City off in the distance.

I sighed and took out a picture of Hilda. I had taken it while she was sleeping. She looked so peaceful.

"_You know you'll just keep putting her in danger_," Reshiram pointed out.

"I know…," I responded.

"_If you want to be a hero, then you need to leave her_," Reshiram said.

"I'm not doing that," I responded.

"_Then she will die_," Reshiram said.

I sighed and watched as the sun set over the bay.

It was nighttime by the time I got to Liberty Island and stepped off the boat. It was a small island with a few closed shops, a Pokémon Center, and a lighthouse that shone its light over the bay.

I headed for the lighthouse over the Pokémon Center. I needed to stop Team Plasma from whatever they were doing.

I entered the lighthouse's area and noticed some scorched Team Plasma mind control devices.

"Whatever Pokémon they were trying to take control over fought back," I said.

I suddenly heard an explosion from inside the lighthouse and a few yells.

"Still fighting back," I corrected myself, running into the lighthouse.

There were Team Plasma Grunts laying unconscious and scorch marks all around the inside of the lighthouse.

"_Help me_!" I heard a young girl call out.

"I'm coming!" I shouted in response, running over in the direction of the voice.

I saw a few more unconscious Team Plasma Grunts lying on the ground and then ran into a flying Pokémon. The Pokémon then flailed about, thinking I was an attacker, but I grabbed it.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I said.

The Pokémon looked at me.

"_You're… you're not_?" it asked me in the same young girl's voice I heard earlier.

"Never," I responded.

I then saw a pair of Grunts approach us with mind control devices in their hands.

"Give us that Victini," one of them ordered me.

"As if," I responded as white light came over me.

I launched over in between the two Grunts and knocked both of them unconscious simultaneously.

I returned to my original form and smiled back at Victini. I then took this moment to pull out my Pokédex.

"Victini, the Victory Pokémon. When it shares the infinite energy it creates, that being's entire body will be overflowing with power," my Pokédex said.

Victini is a small, rodent-like Pokémon. Its large, pointed ears are shaped like the letter V, possibly in reference to its name or the generation it was introduced in. Victini's eyes are large for the size of its head, and are blue. Its round head is comparatively large for its small body, and cream-colored, while the tops of its ears, crest, and extremities are all orange. Its bulbous arms and legs are rounded to make a sort of "cuff" before ending with small, three-fingered hands and two-toed feet. Victini's two wing-like tails grant it the ability to fly.  
"Come on, let's go somewhere safe," I said, leading Victini up to the very top of the lighthouse.

Victini flew in behind me and I closed the door.

"We're safe… for now," I said.

"_What's your name_?" Victini asked me.

"Nero Hishiro," I introduced myself.

"_That's a nice name…_," Victini responded, floating over to my shoulder to rest.

"Why were those Grunts trying to capture you?" I asked her.

"_They want me to be with them, because I can grant them endless victory in all of their battles… but I knew what they were planning and I didn't want to help them_!" Victini cried out.

"Hey, it's okay. You were very brave," I said.

"_I was_?" Victini asked.

"Yes, you were," I said.

I then heard Victini's stomach start growling.

"Are you hungry?" I asked her.

"_Yes…_," she admitted.

I smiled and put my bag down on the floor. I opened it up and pulled out some berries I had packed for a snack.

"Here you go, these are Sitrus Berries, they're very good," I said, handing over a few berries to Victini.

She grabbed one and ate it and then smiled at its citrusy taste.

"_It is! It is good_!" she cried out excitedly.

"I thought you'd like them," I said.

Victini ate a few more and began flying around like a champion. I then brought out Zoroark, because she's very good with younger Pokémon. Victini shied away from Zoroark a bit upon seeing her.

"_It's okay, little one, I won't hurt you_," Zoroark said softly, immediately realizing what I was doing.

Victini inched closer to the Dark-type Pokémon.

"_You promise_?" Victini asked.

"_I promise you with my life_," Zoroark responded.

Victini then investigated Zoroark closer.

"_You're so pretty_!" Victini exclaimed, smiling at Zoroark.

"_Thank you very much_," Zoroark responded.

I chuckled to myself and sat down on the floor as Zoroark and Victini played.

About an hour later, Victini was asleep on my lap, all tuckered out from playing with Zoroark.

"_So Team Plasma is trying to kidnap her to insure victory for them_?" Zoroark asked me.

"Yeah…," I responded, gently stroking Victini's head.

Zoroark shook her head in disgust.

"_Lowlifes…_," she growled.

"I know," I said.

"_At least the ones Victini knocked out are gone now. I heard them leave_," Zoroark said.

"Yeah…," I responded.

I was starting to feel a bit tired and rested up against the case that held the lighthouse's light. Zoroark lay down next to me and we all then fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter VIII**

A sudden crash woke me from my sleep and all I could see was a mechanical arm grab Victini from off my lap and pull her out of the lighthouse.

"Victini!" I called out to her as I got to my feet.

Zoroark was quick to wake up as well and we both looked out of the lighthouse to see a helicopter with the Team Plasma logo on its side hovering next to us. Colress had a device that held the mechanical arm and Victini.

"Thank you for taking care of Victini while we were out, I'm afraid your services will no longer be needed," Colress said, pushing a button on a device in his free hand.

Explosives from below rocked the whole lighthouse. Its supports began crumbling away and the whole lighthouse began collapsing.

"Zoroark, return!" I called out just as the floor beneath broke away.

I put her Pokéball away and a white light came over me just as the floor broke away beneath my feet. I fell just as I entered my White Flare Form.

Colress looked at the collapsing lighthouse with satisfaction. His satisfaction was short-lived; however, as I burst out of the collapsing lighthouse in a ball of blue fire.

"_**Release Victini at once or face my wrath**_!" Reshiram and I roared.

"Destroy him!" Colress called out.

The helicopter turned to face me and fired rockets at me. I shot off away from the rockets, but then found out they were heat-seekers. I suddenly dropped out of the sky between the rockets, causing them both to turn into each other, and explode ten feet above me. The force of the explosion knocked me unconscious and I began my freefall into the debris of the now collapsed lighthouse.

"_Nero_!" Victini cried out my name.

I regained consciousness ten feet before hitting the ground and fired twin streams of blue fire from my fists into the ground to slow my descent. I fell into the flames, but got back to my feet without being harmed.

"Kill him damn it!" Colress snapped.

The helicopter tilted toward me and fired more missiles. I flew off toward the helicopter and past the missiles, causing some to hit another, but still had two following me. I flew into the helicopter, grabbed Victini from Colress' clutches, flipped him off, and flew out the other side.

He turned and saw the two missiles heading straight for him. Colress closed his eyes, waiting for certain death, but out of nowhere N dropped down from the sky in his Black Lightning Form. He came in with so much speed; he flew in between the still spinning rotors of the helicopter. He stopped in front of Colress and fired bolts of lightning into the oncoming missiles, destroying them both.

I flew down in front of the Pokémon Center as several shopkeepers and Nurse Joy came outside to see what the explosions were all about.

"_**Are you okay**_?" Reshiram and I asked Victini.

"_Yes_," she responded.

I smiled, ripped the mechanical hand off her, and tossed it aside. Victini flew by my head and then N appeared in front of us.

"_**Always a thorn in our side**_," he and Zekrom muttered.

"_**Guess so**_," Reshiram and I responded.

"_**Not anymore**_," N and Zekrom growled, firing a bolt of electricity at me.

I formed a dome of blue fire around Victini and I and the lightning bounced off, hitting one of the stands, bursting it into flames. Everyone else ran into the Pokémon Center for safety.

N stopped his attack and I extinguished my defense.

"_**N stop this before an innocent person is hurt**_!" Reshiram and I called out at him.

"_**Nobody here is innocent**_," N and Zekrom hissed.

He then swarmed himself with electricity and lifted off the ground.

"_**You all shall die to get out of Team Plasma's way**_!" N and Zekrom roared, firing a massive amount of electricity at me.

"_NO_!" Victini cried out, flying in front of the electric attack, taking the entire thing.

N and I watched in shock as Victini fell to the ground in a smoldering heap.

"_**Victini…**_," Reshiram and I muttered, falling to my knees.

I picked her up in my arms and struggled to make any sense of what had just happened. N stood there, in just as much shock as I was, and then flew off without another word.

White light appeared over me and I returned to my original form with Victini still in my hands.

"No…," I sputtered as tears began forming in my eyes.

I reached into my pack and pulled out the Sitrus Berries Victini loved so much last night.

"Come on, Victini, remember the Sitrus Berries and how they made you feel so much better," I said, putting the Sitrus Berry in front of her.

She didn't eat.

"Come on, Victini… Come on…," I sobbed, trying to get her to eat the Sitrus Berry.

I even tried forcing it into her mouth, but it was all in vain. I dropped the Sitrus Berries on the ground and broke down.

"Victini… I'm so sorry…," I sobbed.

"_Nero… let me try_," Reshiram said.

My hand became engulfed in blue flames and I looked at the fire encase my entire hand. It didn't burn, but it seemed to calm me. I put my flaming hand on Victini's limp body and she too became engulfed in blue fire.

I watched as Victini rose off the ground in an orb of blue fire. She began glowing from within the flames and then the flames dissipated. Victini then opened her eyes and looked around.

"Victini…," I muttered, getting to my feet.

"_Nero_!" she cried out, flying over to hug my neck.

I was shocked.

"How?" I questioned.

"_I brought her back to life… it was an ability I can only use once_," Reshiram explained.

"Thank you, Reshiram," I said under my breath.

I then turned my attention to the ruins of the lighthouse and noticed Colress and the rest of Team Plasma were gone.

Victini and I waited on the docks for my boat to arrive and return me to Driftveil City.

"_My home is destroyed…_," Victini said.

"I'm sorry, Victini," I responded.

"_It's okay. I'll find a new one and make sure Team Plasma never finds me ever again_," Victini replied enthusiastically.

She flew around my head and smiled.

"Where will you go?" I asked her.

"_Somewhere only you and I will know_," Victini said, flying close to my ear to whisper the location of her new home.

I smiled as she flew back a bit and my boat arrive to take me back to Driftveil City.

"_Thank you for protecting me, Nero Hishiro. I hope to see you again_," Victini said.

"I know we will see each other again," I responded.

Victini smiled and nodded before flying off to her secret new home. I watched as she disappeared from sight and then boarded the boat to return to Driftveil City and report to Clay my final task needed to challenge him to a Gym Battle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter IX**

I returned to Driftveil City by that afternoon and immediately went for the Driftveil Inn. I saw my motorcycle parked outside and sat on its seat.

I brought out my Pokémon and sighed.

"Team Plasma is getting more dangerous…," I muttered.

"_How are we supposed to stop them_?" Zoroark asked.

"I don't know… I'm getting exhausted from the fighting, and every time I do fight them, I get lucky… what if that luck runs out and someone dies?" I responded.

"Nero!" I heard Hilda cry out as she walked out of her inn room.

I stood to my feet as she ran over to me and met her with a hug.

"I'm so glad you're back," she said to me.

"I'm glad I'm back as well," I said.

We separated and I looked behind Hilda as Spectra walked out of her inn room.

"Oh, you're back, did you have fun?" Spectra asked.

"Does being electrocuted, shot at, nearly crushed, and being in a collapsing lighthouse count as having fun?" I responded.

"Depends on the person," Spectra replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, I'm going to go meet with Clay and tell him that I've completed his tasks," I said, shouldering my pack.

I returned all of my Pokémon back to their Pokéballs and began walking toward the Gym.

"Can you at least let us get dressed!?" Hilda called after me, but I pretended not to hear her.

I got to the Driftveil City Gym and walked in. Clay was sitting on a rock in his battlefield.

"So you're back, what do you have to report to me from Liberty Island?" Clay asked.

"Team Plasma was there to capture Victini and use her as a means to achieve victory. I protected her and chased Team Plasma away," I responded.

"The Liberty Island Nurse Joy told me everything that happened, so I can believe you. Good job, you may now challenge me to a battle," Clay said.

"I challenge you to a battle," I said.

"Good, let's have a one-on-one battle, then! Go Excadrill!" Clay called out his strongest Pokémon.

I hesitated on who I wanted to call out. Then I decided.

"Go Zoroark!" I called out.

"Begin!" the robotic referee announced.

"Excadrill use Metal Claw!" Clay called out.

"Night Slash!" I responded.

Excadrill's claws became cloaked in steel and he ran in as Zoroark's claws became cloaked in shadow energy. She was much quicker than Excadrill and hit the Subterrene Pokémon before he could hit her.

"Drill Run!" Clay called out.

"Dodge with illusions!" I called out.

Excadrill folded his claws together and began spinning like a drill, heading straight for Zoroark, but she simply jumped up into the air, leaving behind a trail of illusions. This confused Excadrill and caused him to stop his attack to figure out who was the real Zoroark.

"That is a coward's move!" Clay called out to me.

"No it's not!" I responded.

Zoroark landed behind Excadrill.

"Use Flamethrower!" I called out.

"Dig!" Clay countered.

Zoroark breathed out a stream of fire, but Excadrill was quick to dive underground.

"Now use Horn Drill!" Clay called out.

Shit. That was a one-hit-KO move.

"Fill the field with illusions!" I called out to Zoroark.

She ran around the field, leaving illusions of herself and filled the entire field with illusions. Excadrill erupted from the ground to use Horn Drill, but found himself surrounded by the illusions. He didn't know what to do.

"Flamethrower!" I called out.

Zoroark appeared above Excadrill and breathed down a stream of fire, consuming the Ground/Steel-type Pokémon in flames.

"Metal Claw!" Clay called out.

Suddenly Excadrill dissipated the flames and jumped up to hit Zoroark with his steel-infused claws. Zoroark crashed into the ground amongst all of her illusions as they faded away.

"Horn Drill!" Clay shouted, pointing at Excadrill.

Excadrill collapsed together and spun in midair toward the downed Zoroark.

"Zoroark!" I called out as Excadrill got closer.

She opened her eyes and smiled.

"_Let's end this… together_!" she called out to me.

I nodded.

"Dodge!" I called out.

Zoroark rolled out of the way and Excadrill went crashing into the ground, throwing pieces of rock up into the air.

"Night Slash!" I called out.

Zoroark got to her feet and shot off like a rocket, clashing her dark energy infused claws into Excadrill as he got to his feet, knocking him down once more.

"Now use Flamethrower!" I called out.

She turned and breathed a stream of fire onto Excadrill, dealing a massive amount of damage.

"Finish this with Night Daze!" I shouted.

Purple flames engulfed Zoroark and she charged forward.

"Drill Run, Excadrill, go!" Clay called out.

Excadrill suddenly collapsed into himself and spun around like a drill, shooting across the ground toward Zoroark.

The two attacks collided and an explosion was the result, covering both Excadrill and Zoroark from Clay's and my own view.

We waited impatiently for the smoke to clear and both Zoroark and Excadrill were still standing. The two of them stared at each other and it was an eerie reminder to Spectra's and my battle in the Athletic Cup finals. I closed my eyes, expecting the same outcome, and opened them the moment I heard one of our Pokémon collapse onto the ground. It was Excadrill!

"Excadrill is unable to battle; therefore, Nero Hishiro is victorious!" the robotic referee announced.

Zoroark dropped to one knee in exhaustion and I ran to her, kneeling beside her.

"We won!" I exclaimed at her.

"_Yeah… you're welcome…_," she responded, obviously tired from the battle.

"Thank you, please get some rest," I said, returning her to her Pokéball.

Clay approached me and I got to my feet. He handed me a Badge.

"Good match, kid, you really are the real deal. Sorry to have doubted you," Clay said.

"It's okay," I responded.

Clay nodded and I turned to walk out of the Gym. Hilda and Spectra ran over to meet me.

"What took you so long?" I asked.

"Princess Hilda over there took forever to do her hair," Spectra responded, looking slightly annoyed.

"Shut up!" Hilda responded, pushing Spectra out of the way to speak to me.

"Did you win?" she asked.

"Yes," I responded, showing her my Badge.

"Awesome!" Hilda exclaimed before Spectra pushed her out of the way to admire my Badge.

"Mine's shinier," Spectra said before Hilda pulled her out of the way by her hair.

I did not like where this was going.

"Don't listen to her…," Hilda tried telling me, but Spectra suddenly hit a few of her pressure points, temporarily paralyzing my girlfriend.

She fell into my arms and I looked at Spectra, who batted her eyelashes innocently.

"Don't do that again," I said, picking Hilda up, and carrying her on my shoulder.

"She started it," Spectra responded.

We then walked back to the inn where my motorcycle waited ever so patiently.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter X**

Spectra and I had to wait until nightfall to do a thing since Hilda was still paralyzed.

"You have to teach me how to do that," I told Spectra.

"Oh it's simple really as soon as you get an idea of where the pressure points are on the human body," Spectra said.

"Show me," I said, standing to my feet.

Spectra looked at me and chuckled.

"Alright," she said, standing to her feet as well.

We stood facing each other and Spectra smiled before sending two of her fingers straight for my eyes. I slapped her hand away and looked at her incredulously.

"What the hell?" I questioned.

She then tried kneeing me in the groin, but I blocked that as well.

"Seriously, what _the hell_!?" I snapped.

Finally she drove a kick into my shin, dropping me to a knee.

"Damn it, that hurt!" I snapped.

"The eyes, groin, and shins are three of the easiest pressure points to attack. You can take out your opponent very easily with those attacks," Spectra said.

"Yeah, I can tell," I said, getting back to my feet.

Spectra then stepped in close, causing me to back away, but I hit the bed where Hilda was laying so I had nowhere to go. Spectra then put the heel of her palm against my forehead.

"Hit the forehead with enough pressure, you can give your opponent a concussion or even brain damage," she said.

"Is that what happened to you?" I asked.

Spectra then quickly put two of her fingers behind my collarbone and pushed down to the floor. My legs felt like jelly and I fell to the floor.

"No joking Hishiro," she said, offering a hand.

I took the offered hand and then Spectra punched the bone in the back of my hand, causing me even more pain.

"The collarbone and hand are also good targets," Spectra said.

I looked up at her and rubbed my hand. I got to my feet and stood in front of her.

Spectra smiled slightly and then pushed one of her knuckles into my sternum.

"A good strike could easily puncture a lung," she said.

I looked down at her hand and decided to do the hand punch she tried on me, but Spectra was quick and grabbed me in the area between my ribs and hips. She rolled her fingers in toward her palm and I dropped to my knee in pain. Spectra then used her other hand to grip me beneath my jaw and lifted me back to my feet.

"Alright, I get it," I said.

"Good," Spectra said, releasing me.

We looked at each other and then I struck with a kick to her shin. Spectra swore under her breath and then glared at me.

I smiled victoriously, but then had my legs kicked out from under me. Spectra straddled my midsection and drove her elbow into my sternum, knocking the breath out of me.

"Trying to kill me?" I asked her, coughing.

"Maybe," Spectra responded, looking down at me.

"What are you two doing?" Hilda asked, looking at us from a seated position on the bed.

It probably looked bad that Spectra was practically sitting on my lap.

"She was showing me some pressure points to use in a fight," I said, pushing Spectra off me.

That sounded worse than it actually was. I got to my feet and tried looking as innocent as possible.

"He kicked me in my shins, so I elbowed him in his sternum," Spectra went on to explain.

"Nero, you should know better than to kick a girl," Hilda scolded me.

"Wait, what the fuck?" I questioned.

"You heard me," Hilda responded, glaring at me.

I was confused.

"I'm just gonna go outside and let you two do whatever it is you two do when I'm not around," I said, walking out of the room.

Hilda and Spectra looked at each other and smiled.

"Naked pillow fight?" Hilda asked.

"Naked pillow fight," Spectra agreed.

I then came bursting into the room and looked at both of them incredulously. The both of them then began laughing out loud at my expense.

"I knew he caught on to what he said and I _knew _that he would wait outside the door just to see if it was what he hoped," Hilda said, doubling over in laughter.

"Called that one, Hilda," Spectra said.

I glared at the both of them and left the inn. I walked out into the parking lot and leaned up against my motorcycle.

"Ugh… damn females, sometimes I wonder about them," I muttered under my breath.

Zoroark and Haunter then popped out of their Pokéballs to give me a steely glare.

"_What's that supposed to mean_?" Zoroark asked me.

"_Yeah Nero, what do you mean by that_?" Haunter asked, joining Zoroark.

Suddenly I heard something run past.

"What was that?" I asked them.

"_Don't change the subject you misogynist_," Haunter responded.

"Shut up," I responded, returning her to her Pokéball.

I kept Zoroark out since I could count on her.

"_I don't know_," Zoroark answered my previous question.

Suddenly violet crescents of psychic energy came out of the darkness toward the both of us. Zoroark placed herself in front of the attack, but due to being a Dark-type, she was unaffected by the Psychic-type attack.

"Come out, right now!" I called out.

A Pokémon then appeared out of the darkness with a red scarf wrapped around its neck. I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Gallade, the Blade Pokémon. When trying to protect someone, it extends its elbows as if they were swords and fights savagely," my Pokédex said.

Gallade is a white, bipedal Pokémon. Its lower body consists of rounded hips with strong legs. It has a thin green torso with sharp, red horns sticking out of its chest and back. Its arms are shaped like tonfas with extendable blades in its elbows. It will use its arms like swords in order to protect someone. Its head resembles a gladiator's helmet with a white face and a teal head crest. It has spikes on the sides of its face. It is a master of courtesy and swordsmanship that is capable of predicting its foe's moves.

"_You will perish Pokémon abuser_!" the Gallade roared, firing another set of crescent-shaped energy blasts from his blades.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter XI**

Zoroark took the Psycho Cut attack again and again it didn't do any damage due to her being a Dark-type.

Zoroark used Flamethrower on the attacking Gallade, but Gallade responded by sending twins discs of electricity from his arm blades into the Flamethrower, dissipating it.

"_You are a harmer of Pokémon and must be taken out_!" he called out, glaring right at me.

"What are you talking about!?" I asked Gallade.

Gallade suddenly ran in with his arm blades glowing a verdant green, and knocked Zoroark out of the way. He then swung a kick toward my head, but I ducked under it.

Zoroark came back into the fight by colliding with Gallade.

"_He isn't a Pokémon abuser_!" Zoroark sided with me.

"_Lies, the Hero of Ideals told me everything about you_!" Gallade called out.

"Well he lied to you! The Hero of Ideals nearly killed a Pokémon! I was there!" I shouted at Gallade.

"_Liar_!" Gallade responded angrily, firing another Psycho Cut at me, but I rolled out of the way.

I then noticed that Gallade had a Team Plasma mind control device on him.

"Damn it…," I growled.

I looked at Zoroark as she stood in between Gallade and me, ready to protect me with everything she had.

She readied a Night Slash as Gallade readied a Leaf Blade. Gallade swiped first and Zoroark blocked the attack. She head butted Gallade, causing the Psychic/Fighting-type to stagger back, allowing Zoroark to unleash a Flamethrower onto Gallade. Gallade broke out of the flames and fired a Shock Wave attack at Zoroark. She tried dodging the twin discs of electricity, but they homed in on her and hit her anyways. Zoroark became engulfed in purple flames and she charged into Gallade, knocking him into a wall.

"Destroy the mind control device!" I called out to Zoroark.

"_On it_," Zoroark responded, slicing the Team Plasma mind control device in half with a well-placed Night Slash.

Gallade then fell over, worn out from being forced to fight. I ran over to him and Zoroark.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"_Just a little tired_," she admitted.

"Alright, return," I said, returning Zoroark to her Pokéball.

I supported Gallade on my arm and began taking him toward the Pokémon Center.

"Nero!" I heard Hilda call out my name.

I turned and saw her and Spectra running out of the inn. I then saw a Shadow Triad appear.

"Damn it," I swore, dropping Gallade to defend us both.

The Shadow Triad tried hitting me in the chest, but I blocked it and slammed the heel of my hand into his throat. The man coughed violently as I damaged his windpipe.

I swept his legs out from under him and kicked him in his face, knocking the man out.

I smiled at Hilda and Spectra as they ran over to me.

"Help me take Gallade to the Pokémon Center!" I ordered them.

Both of them supported Gallade on either side and began carrying him toward the Pokémon Center while I walked behind them, waiting for more Shadow Triads.

I got my wish as the remaining two appeared. One of them punched me in the gut and the other elbowed me in the back, putting me on the ground.

"_**Enough**_!" Reshiram and I called out, allowing my White Flare Form to come on.

I looked at the two Shadow Triads as blue flames rose from my eyes. I fired twin streams of blue fire from my hands, but the Shadow Triads dodged the attack. They threw several ninja stars at me, but I flew out of the way. I punched a few fireballs at them, but they rolled out of the way.

They made their way to their unconscious comrade and disappeared under a veil of black smoke. I returned to my normal form and then began helping Hilda and Spectra get Gallade to the Pokémon Center.

We got into the Pokémon Center and Nurse Joy immediately ran over to us.

She put Gallade on a stretcher and wheeled him into a back room where an Audino ran over to help her.

"What happened?" Hilda asked me.

"That Gallade was being controlled by Team Plasma and attacked me. Zoroark and I got the device off him, but then the Shadow Triad showed up," I said.

"Can't go one day, can you?" Spectra asked me.

"Spectra, no joking around," I responded.

"Everyone get down!" Hilda suddenly screamed, pointing at the front of the Pokémon Center.

Spectra and I turned toward the front of the Pokémon Center only to see my motorcycle crashing through it. I turned into my White Flare Form and caught my motorcycle.

I then saw N in his Black Lightning Form walk into the Pokémon Center through the shattered front window.

"_**Hello**_," he and Zekrom growled.

"_**Both of you, leave now. Keep Nurse Joy in the back of the Pokémon Center to help Gallade**_," Reshiram and I ordered.

Hilda and Spectra ran out of the front lobby.

"_**You nearly killed Victini on Liberty Island, you know that N**_," Reshiram and I told him.

"_**It would have never happened if you hadn't gotten in Team Plasma's way**_," N and Zekrom responded.

"_**You are a fool**_," Reshiram and I spat.

N then fired bolts of electricity from his fingertips, hitting my motorcycle, and causing it to explode in a fiery inferno. The force of the explosion threw me into the back wall of the Pokémon Center and knocked me out.

I slid to the ground amongst all of the burning debris of my beloved motorcycle. N approached me, electricity cackling against the burning metal that lay scattered across the floor.

"_**Now let's kill you**_," N and Zekrom growled, getting ready to deliver the final blow.

Suddenly Charmeleon, Honchkrow, Zoroark, Cubone, Haunter, and Sandile all came out of their Pokéballs and stood in a line between N and I.

"_**Out of my way**_!" N and Zekrom barked.

"_No, we will not let you hurt Nero_," Charmeleon growled.

"_You'll have to kill us N_," Zoroark said.

"_**So be it**_!" N and Zekrom shouted, hitting Zoroark in the face with an electrically charged punch.

Charmeleon hit N with a Flamethrower, sending him back a bit. Haunter then fired a Dark Pulse, hitting N in the chest, and propelling him out through the front of the Pokémon Center. Zoroark pulled herself back to her feet and growled.

"_Let's get him_," she growled.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter XII**

My Pokémon all ran out of the Pokémon Center after N. He got to his feet only to have the ground beneath his feet collapse thanks to Sandile. He was trapped in a hole that consumed him from the waist down.

Cubone then ran forward and slammed his bone into N's face.

N then burst out of the ground in an electrical explosion, knocking Cubone into Zoroark's arms.

Honchkrow fired a Shadow Ball onto N from above, but N fired a ball of electricity at Honchkrow. Haunter intervened and used her own Shadow Ball to protect Honchkrow.

Charmeleon and Zoroark ran on either side of N and used Flamethrower, consuming him in fire.

N dissipated the flames in a massive charge of electricity that hit all of my Pokémon. It even did damage to Cubone and Sandile, who were normally immune to Electric-type moves.

All of my Pokémon barely stood on their feet or floated in the air. They were covered in bruises from the battle.

"_**Get out of my way**_," N and Zekrom ordered them.

"_Never_," Charmeleon growled, stepping forward.

"_**Then die alongside your Trainer**_!" N and Zekrom roared, firing bolts of electricity form his fingertips to begin electrocuting all of my Pokémon.

They all screamed in pain as the electrical charges went through their bodies.

I began regaining my consciousness and could see all of my Pokémon being electrocuted just outside the Pokémon Center.

"_**NO**_!" I shouted, becoming engulfed in blue fire.

I shot out of the Pokémon Center and punched N right in the face. That stopped my Pokémon's electrocution and sent N crashing into a sign that said, "Welcome to Driftveil City." I kept going, burning through the sign, and grabbing N by his throat. I picked him up off the ground and slammed him back down into it, leaving an imprint of the outline of his body.

"_**You will never harm my Pokémon, or any Pokémon**_!" I shouted, throwing a flaming fist into his face.

N spun around before falling to the ground, knocked out from my last punch.

I stood there, still on fire, breathing hard as I looked at N.

"_**I ought to kill you right now, but I don't have the right to take someone's life**_," I said, turning away from N.

I ran over to my Pokémon as they began crawling over to each other. I switched out of my White Flare Form and tried holding all of my Pokémon in my arms.

"I'm so sorry you guys had to get hurt protecting me…," I sobbed.

Charmeleon reached up with all his leftover strength and put his claws on my shoulder.

"_You would have… you would have done the same thing_," he said.

"_**Stockholm syndrome… the Pokémon you're holding hostage against their will hold empathy for you**_," N and Zekrom said as he got to his feet.

I stood to my feet, but didn't turn into my White Flare Form.

"N, please, I am not holding my Pokémon hostage. You know that! I love my Pokémon and I would my life for them!" I shouted.

"_**Prove it**_!" N and Zekrom snapped, firing a bolt of electricity at me.

It hit me and I yelled out in pain. N was holding back. He didn't want to kill me, he just wanted to hurt me to see if I would stand by my word. I took all of the pain, but dropped to one knee. My Pokémon suddenly got up and rallied around me.

"_Leave him alone_!" they all shouted, firing various moves at N.

Charmeleon and Zoroark exhaled a Flamethrower each, Honchkrow fired a Dark Pulse, Cubone threw a Bonemerang, Haunter shot a Shadow Ball, and Sandile barraged N with a Stone Edge. He fell forward and a black light consumed him. He returned to his regular form.

I got back onto my feet and ran over to N.

"See that you son of a bitch, I took all of that for my Pokémon, and they backed me up the entire way! We love and respect each other, why the hell can't you see that!?" I shouted at N, shaking him.

I then noticed something on the back of his neck. It was a Team Plasma mind control device.

"Shit…," I muttered, looking at my Pokémon.

Black smoke then consumed N and me and when it dissipated, N was gone before I could take the device off him and free my friend.

"No! Damn it!" I shouted, punching the ground.

I stood to my feet and headed back to my Pokémon. I knelt down beside them and smiled despite what had just happened.

"We know what we need to do now to free N," I said.

"Nero!" Hilda cried out, running over to me.

She went to her knees next to me and began checking me over.

"I'm okay, I need to get my Pokémon to the Pokémon Center though," I said, returning them all to their Pokéballs.

I got to my feet and limped into the Pokémon Center.

"You're hurt!" Hilda called out.

"I don't care, my Pokémon are hurt too… they risked their lives to protect me, so I'm not gonna put that for granted!" I snapped, going in the back room.

Nurse Joy had just stabilized Gallade, who was awake. Spectra stood nearby and gasped upon seeing me.

"Nurse Joy, I need your help," I said.

"What happened?" she asked me.

"Long story, my Pokémon got electrocuted and our injured… badly…," I said, breathing hard.

Gallade eyed me.

"_How were they injured_?" Gallade asked.

"By the Hero of Ideals, I was knocked out and put to his mercy, but they came out and protected me," I growled, blood starting to come out of my mouth.

"You're hurt too," Spectra said, running over to me.

My legs were beginning to feel weak and I fell in a crumpled heap.

"_You've taken too much damage, Nero, you need to rest for a while now…_," Reshiram said to me.

I just nodded and slipped into unconsciousness as Hilda ran into the room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter XIII**

I woke up and immediately felt a sharp pain in my forehead. I groaned and began rubbing my temples to try and ease the pain. I looked over and saw Hilda fast asleep in a hospital bed next to me.

I sat up and swung my legs off the bed. I pulled myself to my feet and used a wall to support myself. I walked out of the back room, leaving Hilda to sleep. I passed by where the cots were for passing Trainers and saw Spectra fast asleep as well. I walked out into the front lobby and saw Nurse Joy standing behind the counter.

"Good morning," I greeted her.

She didn't even acknowledge my presence.

"Hello?" I questioned her, waving in front of her face, but still no acknowledgement.

"_**This world shall be frozen and made in my image**_!" I heard a twin set of voices roar from outside the Pokémon Center.

A layer of frost then began creeping over broken windows in the front of the Pokémon Center. I backed away from Nurse Joy as the frost covered the floors, furniture, walls, and even the ceiling.

The frost then encased the counter Nurse Joy stood behind and was slowly creeping up onto her. I tried moving over to her, but the frost suddenly shot out across the floor between us and began moving toward me, forcing me to move back. I watched as the frost encased Nurse Joy and froze her just as she turned to look at me. Her frozen face stared at me as the frost continued to encase the lobby of the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy's frozen face then cracked and she began crumbling away.

"Shit!" I shouted, backing away.

I ran down the hall and got to the cot room, but the door slammed shut on me and locked. I looked at where Spectra was laying and then saw frost appearing in the room. It covered the floor and the walls and then began encasing the cots.

"Spectra!" I shouted, banging on the door.

I threw myself at the door, but it wouldn't budge. I then tried kicking it down, but it still wouldn't budge. I then looked through the window as the frost encased Spectra's sleeping form. Frost then covered the window and I couldn't see anything beyond it.

The frost then began coming out of the room and out into the hall where it combined with the frost coming in from the lobby.

I ran over to where Hilda was sleeping and tried waking her, but she was out cold. I did everything I could to wake her; pinching her, tickling her, even pleasuring her, but nothing would wake her.

Frost began coming into the room, so I picked Hilda up and moved to the far corner of the room. I lay her down and stood in front of her. I tried activating my White Flare Form, but I couldn't turn.

I turned over to Hilda and saw Frost starting to encase her. I picked her up off the ground, but the frost kept covering her body. She was then completely covered in frost before breaking apart in my arms.

"No… NO!" I shouted, falling to my knees amongst the broken parts of my girlfriend.

The entire Pokémon Center was then encased in frost and crumbled away around me, leaving me out in the open.

I looked around and saw as all of Driftveil City being encased in ice and crumbling away.

In the center of Driftveil was N and Ghetsis. I saw Zekrom standing behind N and I saw Kyurem standing behind Ghetsis.

They turned toward me and smiled. The frost then began coming up my legs, and I stood to my feet, but my legs suddenly broke apart under my weight and I fell to the ground. Frost continued up my arms as I tried to crawl away, but they broke apart too. I lay there on the ground as a torso and a head as the frost encased me entirely.

I could still see. I was still alive. I watched as N walked up to my frozen body and smiled before raising and smashing his foot onto my frozen head, shattering it to pieces.

I woke up to a start and practically jumped out of bed, taking some of the machines I was attached to with me. They fell over and made a loud clanging noise. Hilda, Spectra, and Nurse Joy all ran into the room, alerted by the noise of the medical machines falling over.

"Nero, it's okay, it's okay!" Spectra was shouting, trying to calm me down.

She and Nurse Joy tried holding me down as I blindly flailed about, hitting Spectra in the face hard enough to knock her off her feet. Nurse Joy managed to get me onto the bed, but I was still flailing around, so Hilda was forced to jump on me and pinned me down onto the bed. I resisted under her body.

"Shh… it's okay Nero… it's okay… it's all gonna be okay," she whispered soothingly into my ear.

I stopped resisting under her and was breathing hard. I looked around, blinking my eyes so I could see clearly. I saw Hilda's blue eyes staring at me. I turned to see Spectra getting back to her feet, holding a bloody nose.

"I think you broke my nose," she complained and Nurse Joy walked over to look at it.

"It isn't broken, I'll get you a towel," Nurse Joy said, walking out of the room.

"Nero, are you okay?" Hilda asked softly.

"Yeah… I just had an awful nightmare…," I said.

"_It wasn't a nightmare, Nero Hishiro, it was a premonition of what will happen if we do not stop Team Plasma_," Reshiram told me.

I widened my eyes in shock and looked at Hilda and Spectra.

"I need to tell you guys something," I said.

After telling them all about my dream, Spectra was left shaking her head, pressing a towel against her bleeding nose.

"They're planning to bring back Kyurem and use him to freeze all of Unova, that's insane," she said.

"It's going to happen if we don't stop Team Plasma," I said.

"We will stop them, Nero," Hilda said, trying to reassure me.

"How? N is just as strong as I am in his Black Lightning Form and Colress has given them an army of mechs and tanks; that's not including an army of Pokémon they can easily obtain with their mind control devices," I said.

"Nero, I'm just trying to remain positive. We can't give up just because it seems unlikely," Hilda said.

"It's three of us against an army," I said.

Suddenly all sixteen of our Pokémon came out of their Pokéballs simultaneously.

"_Nineteen against an army_," Charmeleon growled.

"Plus Cheren and Bianca," Hilda said.

"And the Gym Leaders would help us if we need them," Spectra said.

"Don't forget Alder," Hilda added.

"Even the Elite Four if we can get to Alder," Spectra included.

"Team Plasma has their army, but we have one of our own," Hilda said.

"And you've made friends with several Legendary Pokémon too Nero. We can get help," Spectra said.

I then remembered something about my last fight with N.

"There's one more thing," I said.

"What?" Hilda asked.

"N, when I knocked him out last night, he had a mind control device on him. The Shadow Triad took him away before I could get it off him. It's a long shot, but if we get it off him, we can save him, and then turn the tide of the upcoming war," I said.

"See, we have a shot, even if it's a long one," Hilda said.

Spectra then snickered, causing Hilda and I to look at her.

"What? She said long one," Spectra said, laughing like an immature child.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter XIV**

Hilda, Spectra, and I were standing outside of the Driftveil Pokémon Center as construction workers were busy repairing the damages to the front and lobby.

I was feeling down due to the fact that my motorcycle was destroyed in the fight between N and I. Hilda then grabbed my hand, causing me to look at her.

"Hey, it's okay Nero. We can get you another motorcycle," she said.

I smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks," I said.

"Alright, Nero, here is the Transceiver. I have given you the numbers of all of the Gym Leaders in the Unova Region that you have met so far. You can get the three that you haven't met yet. Explain to them the situation and tell them to get ready for the battle of a lifetime," Clay said, handing me a tablet.

I took it and nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

"Just don't let Team Plasma win, you hear? 'Cause if they do, I will personally drag your ass out of the grave and kick it," Clay said.

I chuckled.

"I won't fail," I said.

"Good. Now get going to Mistralton City. You'll have to get through Chargestone Cave; however, to get there. Good luck Nero," Clay gave his farewells.

Hilda and Spectra said their goodbyes as well and we left Driftveil City.

I turned the Transceiver on and dialed the number for the Striaton City Gym.

"Hello?" Cilan answered his Transceiver on his end.

"Yo it's Nero!" Chili exclaimed, pushing his brother out of the way.

"Tell him I said hi," I heard Cress' voice in the background.

"Cress says hi," Chili said.

"Hey, Clay instructed me to tell you and your brothers about a big war that is about to be waged. We need you to be at the ready for when it happens," I said.

Cilan suddenly pushed Chili out of the way and looked at me with a serious look on his face.

"Alright, we'll be ready," Cilan said.

I then ended the transmission and contacted Lenora.

"Hello Nero Hishiro," Lenora greeted me.

"Hello Lenora, Team Plasma is planning on resurrecting Kyurem and using him to freeze the world. I need you to be at the ready for when it all goes down," I said.

"Indeed, if your assumption is correct, then we all need to be ready," Lenora said.

I ended the transmission and contacted Burgh in Castelia City.

"Why hello Nero," Burgh greeted me.

"Burgh, Team Plasma is planning on resurrecting Kyurem and freezing the entire world. We need to be ready for when they strike next," I said.

"Oh dear, we will be ready, Nero," Burgh responded.

I ended the transmission and then contacted Elesa in Nimbasa City. She answered and was laying in bed wearing a lace bra and panties.

"Oh hello Nero, how are you doing sweetheart?" she asked me seductively.

Hilda gave me a steely look while Spectra snickered.

"I'm good. Listen, Elesa, I'm calling because Team Plasma is planning a war. I need you to be at the ready for when it all goes down," I said.

"Oh? Alright, Nero. Is Hilda there?" Elesa asked.

"Yeah, she's right here," I said, moving the Transceiver over toward Hilda.

"Hey Elesa," Hilda greeted her.

"Hey, be sure to keep Nero in line and be sure to remain adventurous in your love life," Elesa advised her.

"Don't worry, I will," Hilda said.

"Where are you heading to now?" Elesa asked.

"Mistralton City," Hilda said.

"Oh! The Gym Leader there and I are good friends and old college roommates. I'll meet you guys there tomorrow," Elesa said.

"What about the Gym?" I asked.

"Oh they won't miss me for a week or two," Elesa said, waving me off.

"Alright, see you there then, Elesa," Hilda said.

"Bye, you two," she said, winking at us.

Spectra looked uncomfortable in the course of the conversation.

"Bye," I said, ending the transmission to spare Spectra and myself.

We looked at one another and kept walking. I began noticing the dark clouds brewing overhead and then looked at Hilda and Spectra.

"We need to find some shelter before it starts raining," I said.

Lightning cackled overhead and the rain started pouring over us.

"There's a cave over there!" Hilda called out, pointing off the path.

We ran into the cave and were sheltered from the rain.

"I guess we'll just have to rest here," I said, taking my pack off my back.

I sat down on the ground, resting up against the wall of the cave.

"I'm gonna go explore," Spectra said, walking deeper into the cave.

"No, we should wait here," I said, getting to my feet.

"You two do what you want, I'm going exploring," Spectra said, continuing to walk.

I ran after her and grabbed her shoulder. She turned and glared at me.

"What?" she asked me.

"Don't go off on your own, you need to stay with us," I said.

"Don't tell me what to do, you're not the boss of me," Spectra said.

She kept walking, but wasn't paying attention where she was going. I grabbed her arm and pulled her away just before she could walk off the side of a chasm.

She looked at me and smiled slightly.

"Shut up," she said, turning back to steady herself.

"I told you so," I said.

"I said shut up!" Spectra snapped.

The floor suddenly gave away beneath our feet and we fell down the chasm.

"Nero! Spectra!" Hilda cried out, running over to where we fell.

She looked down the chasm, but saw only darkness. She couldn't even hear us scream.

Spectra and I kept falling, but then brought out Honchkrow and Sweetheart respectively.

Our flying Pokémon caught us and slowed our descent to the bottom of the chasm.

We looked up into the darkness, but a low rumbling sound unnerved me. The part of the chasm that gave away beneath our feet caused a portion of the side of the chasm to collapse and began falling toward us.

I pushed Spectra out of the way and Honchkrow and Sweetheart flew out of the way as the rocks blocked us from getting back to the chasm and flying back up to Hilda.

I looked at Spectra and she looked back at me. We were stuck down here.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter XV**

"This is all your fault," Spectra and I said to each other in unison.

I stood to my feet and began testing the durability of the rock wall. It was packed together and wasn't going to budge.

"We can use our Pokémon to free ourselves," Spectra suggested, still sitting on the ground.

"No, this wall is holding up even more rocks. If we hit it wrong, it could crush us," I said.

"Ugh…," Spectra groaned, causing Sweetheart to go over and comfort her.

I looked at Honchkrow and knelt down.

"Thanks," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

I then brought out Sandile.

"Sandile, think you could make us a tunnel to crawl through to another area?" I asked him.

"_I'm on it, Nero_," Sandile responded.

He began digging through the far wall, making a tunnel to another area in the cave.

"What are you doing now?" Spectra asked.

"Getting us out of here," I said, getting on my hands and knees to begin crawling through the tunnel Sandile bug up.

Spectra sighed and returned Sweetheart. She pushed past me to crawl through the tunnel and I followed behind her.

"Hey, I was wondering, what ever happened to Gallade?" I asked her.

"Oh, when you passed out, he wanted to join your team," Spectra said.

"Really?" I asked her.

"Yeah, since I understood him, I took one of your Pokéballs and caught him. Since you're over the six Pokémon limit, he was sent over to Professor Juniper's Lab," Spectra explained.

"Damn, and you guys never told me?" I asked.

"Hey, we were more occupied with Team Plasma wanting to freeze the entire world," Spectra said.

"True. Oh well," I said.

"Yeah, how long is this tunnel?" Spectra asked.

"I don't know," I said.

"Ugh I hope it ends soon. I'm getting uncomfortable with your face near my ass," Spectra commented.

"Hey, the feeling is mutual," I responded.

I then saw light up ahead past Spectra's form and we began crawling faster before coming out into a chamber inside the cave. It was illuminated naturally by glowing rocks.

"Oh wow, this is beautiful," Spectra said, getting to her feet.

"Yeah…," I agreed, getting to my feet.

I looked down at Sandile.

"Thanks a lot Sandile," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

I then looked at Spectra and smiled.

"Now maybe we can figure our way out," I said.

"_Humans in my Chamber of Knowledge_?" a stern voice questioned.

Spectra and I turned and saw a Pokémon approach us. I took out my Pokédex.

"Cobalion, the Iron Will Pokémon. It has a body and heart of steel. It worked with its allies to punish people when they hurt Pokémon," my Pokédex said.

Cobalion is a goat-like, quadruped Pokémon that is covered in aqua blue fur. It has yellow horns similar in shape to thunderbolts. Its snout is a lighter shade of blue than the rest of its fur, and there a black blaze running from its nose to the back of its head. On its long neck and hind legs, there are small gray spots. It has a white tuft of fur under its neck, resembling a cravat. On its shoulder blades are yellow protrusions that resemble fins. Its tail resembles these protrusions, albeit in the same color as its snout. Cobalion's legs have black bands with lighter fur underneath and large black hooves.

Cobalion has a composed demeanor, but dislikes humans. Once, it fought against people to protect Pokémon. Its glare can make even an unruly Pokémon obey it.

"You're one of the Swords of Justice," I pointed out.

"_So you've heard of me_?" Cobalion asked me.

"Yeah, I've met Virizion," I said.

"_Hello Cobalion_," Reshiram greeted the other Legendary Pokémon.

"_You've been possessed by Reshiram_?" Cobalion asked me.

"Yeah," I said.

"_The Hero of Truth is a human…_," Cobalion muttered.

"What's wrong with being a human?" Spectra asked, narrowing her eyes.

"_You're violent, naïve, and selfish_," Cobalion responded.

"I'm none of those," I said.

"_I see you contain your Pokémon in those devices known as Pokéballs. How selfish keeping them locked up in those things_," Cobalion accused.

I narrowed my eyes and brought out all of my Pokémon.

"Tell him how I treat you," I said, crossing my arms.

"_He has saved my life constantly and took care of me when my original Trainer abandoned me_," Charmeleon revealed.

"_I've known him all my life, he's my bro_," Honchkrow said.

"_He's a great man and an incredible friend_," Zoroark said.

"_He adopted me after my mother was killed by poachers, he cares about us all_," Cubone said.

"_He is an awesome person_!" Haunter exclaimed.

"_He lets me bite his head even though it hurts_," Sandile said.

"See, these are my friends. I know some humans have wronged them, but that isn't me," I said.

"_Then prove to me how strong you are together_," Cobalion said, getting into a fighting stance.

I looked at him and then at my Pokémon.

"Six-on-one, isn't that a bit unfair?" I asked him.

"_I have no issue with it_," Cobalion said.

"Alright, let's go guys!" I shouted.

Cobalion charged forward as his head glowed a silvery gray.

"Double Flamethrower!" I called out.

Charmeleon and Zoroark stood side-by-side and exhaled twin streams of fire onto Cobalion as he charged forward. He charged straight through the flames.

"Sandile, trap him now!" I called out.

I had used the Flamethrowers as a distraction to allow Sandile to dig underground and cause a set of holes to appear in front of Cobalion, causing him to stop his charge.

"_Clever human_," he commented.

"Cubone, use Bonemerang!" I called out.

Cubone threw his bone and it spun around and around, but Cobalion batted it away with his head.

"Shadow Balls!" I called out.

Haunter and Honchkrow flew over Cobalion's head and fired a barrage of Shadow Balls onto him.

"Stone Edge!" I called out.

Sandile fired the pointed stones onto Cobalion, but they did little damage.

Cobalion then fired a white beam onto Sandile, knocking him out with one hit.

"Sandile, return," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

"_One down, five to go_," Cobalion said, turning to face down Cubone, who was fetching his bone.

Cobalion charged forward, but Zoroark picked up Cubone and hit Cobalion with a super effective Flamethrower attack. Honchkrow then flew in with an Aerial Ace, knocking Cobalion off his hooves. He landed strongly and a glowing blue blade formed from his head. He slashed Honchkrow out of the air, knocking him out.

"Honchkrow, return," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

"_Two down, four to go_," Cobalion said, smiling.

"Time to go all out!" I called out.

Charmeleon ran up to Cobalion, jumped up, and slashed him with a Dragon Claw Attack. Zoroark charged into his right flank with a Night Daze. Cubone head butted Cobalion with Headbutt. Haunter tried using Poison Jab on Cobalion, but the move missed him entirely.

"_I'm part Steel-type little girl_," Cobalion explained, shaking off the three previous attacks.

He then hit Haunter with a Flash Cannon, knocking her into my arms.

"Rest up, Haunter," I said, returning her to her Pokéball.

I looked at Cobalion and truly recognized him as being strong.

"Come on, don't give up! Never give up!" I shouted.

"_That's it Hero of Truth, never give up_!" Cobalion shouted alongside me.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter XVI**

Cobalion charged forward with an Iron Head, but my Pokémon dodged it. He turned and kicked his back hooves out, hitting Cubone into Zoroark's arms.

"Cubone!" I called out, running over to them to make sure he was okay.

He was knocked out, so I returned him to his Pokéball.

"Let's end this. Double Flamethrower!" I called out.

Charmeleon and Zoroark engulfed Cobalion in flames, but he simply shrugged them away. He then used Iron Head and slammed Charmeleon through a stalagmite and into a wall. He slid to the floor and lay there at Cobalion's mercy. Cobalion then readied a Flash Cannon to finish Charmeleon off.

"_No_!" Zoroark called out, running forward, and hitting Cobalion twice with a Night Slash, turning his attention towards her.

He fired the Flash Cannon at her, but she jumped up into the air, leaving behind a trail of illusions that dissipated as the Flash Cannon flew through them. She breathed a Flamethrower down onto Cobalion, but he shook it off. She landed behind him and readied a Night Slash, but Cobalion turned with a Sacred Sword attack and the two attacks clanged together.

Zoroark blocked the super effective Sacred Sword with both of her claws, but Cobalion's strength was forcing her down onto her knees.

Cobalion turned around and slammed his back hooves into her, throwing her across the room. She slid across the ground to Charmeleon as he got back to his feet.

"_You saved me…_," he said.

"_You're welcome_," Zoroark responded with her usual attitude before slipping into unconsciousness.

I returned her to her Pokéball and walked over to where Charmeleon was standing.

"So it's just you and me now," I said.

"_Yup_," he responded.

"Ready to give it your all?" I asked him.

"_And then some_," he added.

"Flamethrower!" I called out.

Charmeleon breathed out the stream of fire toward Cobalion who blocked it with Sacred Sword. He then charged forward with Iron Head, but Charmeleon slid beneath him, striking him in the belly with Dragon Claw. Charmeleon was behind Cobalion only to be kicked by the Close Combat attack. He flew across the room and hit the far wall. Rocks came down on top of him and concealed him from view.

"Charmeleon!" I called out, running over to him.

No response.

"Come on Charmeleon, come on! You can do it, I believe in you!" I called out.

Then the rocks caught fire. I saw a pair of wings burst out from beneath the rocks and then something came bursting out of the rock pile and flew in the air above me.

I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Charizard, the Flame Pokémon. It is said that Charizard's fire burns hotter if it has experienced harsh battles," my Pokédex said.

Charizard is draconic, bipedal Pokémon. It is primarily orange in coloration with a cream underside from the chest to the tip of the tail. It has a long snout and neck, small blue eyes, and two horns protruding from the back of its head. There are large wings with teal undersides sprouting from its back. Its arms are short and skinny, and its hands have three clawed fingers. Its feet have three clawed toes and cream-colored soles.

Charmeleon just evolved into Charizard.

"This is awesome, you evolved!" I called out.

"_Yes, now let's end this_!" Charizard called out, breathing an even more powerful Flamethrower onto Cobalion.

He was pushed back by the attack. Charizard then became engulfed in blue fire in the shape of a dragon and then charged into Cobalion, knocking him off his hooves, and driving the Legendary Pokémon through three stalagmites in a row before slamming him into a far wall.

Charizard then backed away and engulfed Cobalion in flames from a powerful Flamethrower attack. Cobalion suddenly got back to his feet and began kicking Charizard with his front and back moves. The strong Close Combat attack wore Charizard out and he was breathing hard. Cobalion stood in front of him and then extended a Sacred Sword from his head right under Charizard's neck.

"_Yield_," he growled.

"_I yield_," Charizard responded.

Cobalion retracted his Sacred Sword and Charizard fell forward, too exhausted to continue fighting. I ran over to Charizard and knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"_I'm fine. Just exhausted_," he admitted.

"You did awesome. Please Charizard, rest," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

"_All your Pokémon fought well. I can see now why Reshiram chose you as the Hero of Truth_," Cobalion said.

"Thank you," I said.

Spectra then walked up alongside me and nodded her approval in my battling.

"Cobalion, we fell down the chasm at the start of the cave. How do we get back there?" I asked him.

"_You just need to follow that path right there, it will take you back up to the beginning of the cave_," Cobalion said.

"Thank you, I hope to see you again," I said.

"_You will. Virizion told me what happened in Pinwheel Forest. Team Plasma concerns me. I shall meet you very soon Hero of Truth_," Cobalion said.

I nodded and Spectra and I walked over to the pathway, leaving Cobalion in his chamber.

"Good, another Legendary Pokémon on our side. Maybe we can save N and stop Team Plasma," I said.

"COULD YOU STOP TALKING ABOUT N!" Spectra suddenly shouted, turning on me.

I looked at her strangely and she then noticed her outburst. She turned and walked hurriedly away, but I wasn't going to let that slide so easily.

"Hey! Don't you walk away from me!" I shouted, grabbing her shoulder.

She turned back on me and tried hitting me in the sternum, but I grabbed her wrist, twisted her arm behind her back, and slammed her into the passageway's wall.

"Let go of me! Let the fuck go of me!" Spectra screamed, kicking off the wall to push me into the opposite wall.

She turned and tried kicking me, but I ducked under it and tackled her to the ground.

"What is your problem!? Talk to me, Spectra!" I yelled at her.

"Fuck you! Fuck you, Nero! Get off of me!" she screamed.

She was bawling. All of her pent up feelings toward N's departure was coming out.

"Spectra, I'm your friend. Talk to me," I said.

She lay there on her back and I kept pinning her arms down before she broke down completely.

"I feel like absolute shit Nero… My heart is in a million pieces and I don't know how to put it back together. I hate N and yet at the same time I still love him. I know what's happening isn't his fault, but still. Just God, Nero, this fucking sucks," Spectra explained as she sobbed.

"Listen to me Spectra, I know you've been on your own for so long with only your Pokémon to talk to about your life problems, but that's not how it is anymore. You have me, you have Hilda, and soon you _will _have N back in your life. I am here for you, you're one of my best friends, I am so glad to have met you, and I love you. You are never going to be alone," I said, standing to my feet.

I held out my hand for her and she took it to help her to her feet. She looked at me and then embraced me in a hug, resting her face in my shoulder.

"Thank you, Nero, thank you," she whispered into me.

"You're welcome Spectra, now let's go meet up with Hilda," I said, pulling away from her.

She smiled and nodded. We then left and followed the rest of the pathway up to where Hilda was waiting frantically by the edge of the chasm, trying to figure out how to get down to Spectra and I.

I smiled at Spectra and put my index finger against my lips, telling her to be quiet. I snuck up behind Hilda and stood there.

"You okay, little lady?" I asked her in a different voice.

"No, my boyfriend and a friend fell down this chasm and I have no idea how to get to them to see if they survived the fall somehow," Hilda said, turning to see me.

She screamed and jumped into my arms.

"Damn you Nero! You scared the shit out of me!" she screamed, kissing me repeatedly.

"I know that, why do you think I did it in the first place?" I asked her.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter XVII**

By the time Spectra and I had gotten back to Hilda, the storm had already subsided, so we left the cave to continue on our way to Mistralton City.

We soon got up to the beginning of a cave that was covered by thick webbing.

"So this must be Chargestone Cave," I said.

"Yeah, how are we supposed to get past this webbing though?" Hilda asked.

Spectra and I looked at her incredulously.

"Is your relationship solely based on sex, because conversations must lower your IQ?" Spectra asked me.

"Shut up!" Hilda called out.

I sighed and brought out Zoroark.

"Please use Night Slash to cut through the webbing," I requested of her.

She nodded and slashed the webbing away.

"Thank you," I said, returning her to her Pokéball.

I turned to see Hilda and Spectra glaring at each other with their hands on their hips.

"Alright, if you two are going to fight, let me get a video camera, thong-style bikinis, and a kiddy pool full of vanilla pudding," I said, turning their attentions on me.

Hilda turned her nose up at Spectra and walked into Chargestone Cave ahead of us all.

"She isn't stupid, she just… doesn't think before she speaks," I said to Spectra.

We both then heard Hilda scream from inside Chargestone Cave.

"Hilda!" I called out, running into the cave.

I saw her on her butt, crawling back toward me as dozens of miniscule Pokémon swarmed over her. I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Since it can't generate its own electricity, it sticks onto large-bodied Pokémon and absorbs static electricity," the Pokédex said.

At two inches tall, Joltik is the smallest Pokémon in existence. It has four legs tipped with blue, conical feet. Its ovoid body is completely covered in yellow fur, with notable tufts sticking out on each side of its face, just over each eye, and its lower back. Joltik has four blue eyes. The two larger eyes are set relatively far apart on its face, containing black pupils. The two smaller simple eyes are situated between the first pair, slightly higher up on its face. Joltik's mandibles point downward and reside at the bottom of its face, where they closely resemble tufts of hair.

Joltik is too small to generate its own electricity, so it attaches itself to larger Pokémon and feeds off their static electricity. It will also make its way into houses and feed off electricity in electrical sockets. All of the energy it absorbs it stores in an electric pouch on its body.

I watched as the two-inch tall Pokémon swarmed around Hilda as she looked visibly freaked out. I sighed and scooped her off the ground. Hilda had a severe arachnophobia problem. If she so much saw a spider, she would freeze up.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and tried steadying her breathing.

"Calm down, they're harmless Joltik," I told her.

"Aw, is big, bad Hilda afraid of some itty bitty Joltik?" Spectra asked teasingly.

Suddenly something even larger dropped down from above. I aimed by Pokédex at it.

"Galvantula, the EleSpider Pokémon. It creates barriers from electrified silk that stun foes. This works as a weapon as well as a defense," my Pokédex said.

Galvantula's body consists of a head and abdomen. Its head is yellow on top and light purple on the bottom. It has two large, blue, forward-facing eyes with black pupils, and four, smaller, simple eyes sitting in a two-by-two pattern on its forehead. It has two long mandibles connected from the underside of its head, which are blue and hairless on their lower half and covered in thick yellow fur on the upper half. Galvantula's body is covered in yellow and light purple fur on top with blue fur under its abdomen. Four tufts of hair sprout from under its abdomen and grow upward. Two large tufts sprout from the left and right of the rear, while two smaller ones sprout from each side. The fur on its back is light purple and with three thick, yellow stripes running up from its rear. Despite being based on a spider, Galvantula has only four legs. Each leg is connected to the head by a blue upper half. The lower half is covered in yellow fur and forms a bell-shape over its blue, conical feet.

Galvantula, and its pre-evolution Joltik, are the only Pokémon that can learn Electroweb by leveling up. Galvantula in particular likes to use electrically charged silk to ensnare prey. The electricity stuns the victim, allowing Galvantula to consume the target at its leisure. Its mandibles are very strong, allowing Galvantula to hold down unruly prey. It also uses electric webs to defend itself from threats.

"But being afraid of a… giant Galvantula… makes much more… much more sense," Spectra stuttered, pointing up at the trio of Galvantula glaring at us.

"They're pissed because we destroyed their web," I figured out.

The Galvantula suddenly fired electrically-charged webbing from their mandibles at us.

"Electivire, block," a familiar voice said calmly.

A large-bodied Pokémon suddenly stood in front of us and took the Electroweb attack, but took no damage from the attack.

I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Electivire, the Thunderbolt Pokémon. The instant it presses the tips of its tails onto an opponent, it sends over twenty thousand volts of electricity into the foe," my Pokédex said.

Electivire is a humanoid creature covered in yellow fur with black stripes. It appears to lack a neck, and has red eyes, a black spot on its forehead, and a pair of antennae with bulbous tips. A pattern on Electivire's back resembles an electric outlet. The fur on its cheeks and shoulders is spiky and ruffled. Its two black tails have red tips. Electivire has black feet with three, clawed toes, and five black fingers on each of its hands.

Electivire is known to be recklessly careless regarding enemy attacks. It uses its tails to make contact with its opponents, and shocks them with over twenty thousand volts. Blue sparks fly between its antennae as its electric charge amplifies. Electivire usually feed off electric currents.

Then I saw Electivire's Trainer and it ended up being Cheren.

"Fire Punch!" he ordered.

Flames cloaked Electivire's fists and he ran forward unbelievably fast and punched the three Galvantula away. They all climbed back up to their dens and the Joltik fled. Hilda was then willing to get out of my arms and blushed furiously.

"Hey Cheren!" I called out.

"Nero, Hilda, Spectra, how are you all doing?" Cheren asked, approaching us.

"Oh just watching Hilda freak out over some Joltik and Galvantula," Spectra commented.

Hilda lunged, but I grabbed her and put her over my shoulder. I looked at Cheren as Hilda continued to try and grab Spectra.

"Oh, just the same," I said.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter XVIII**

"So when Electivire is hit with an Electric-type attack, he takes no damage, and his speed increases?" I asked him.

"Yes. So where is your beloved motorcycle?" Cheren asked

"It got destroyed by N," I muttered under my breath.

"So he's still under Team Plasma's control?" Cheren asked.

"Yeah…," I muttered.

Spectra looked down at the cave floor.

"HEY YOU GUYS!" we all heard the familiarly bubbly voice call over at us.

We turned to see Bianca running over to us. As usual for Bianca, her foot found a rock, and she tripped over it, colliding with Hilda. Both of them went crashing to the ground.

"Oh come on!" Hilda complained, pushing Bianca off of herself.

Spectra was busy laughing at Hilda's expense. I helped both Hilda and Bianca back to their feet and was immediately hugged by Bianca.

"I missed you guys!" she called out.

"We missed you too," I said, pulling out of the death hug.

"So are you all heading to Mistralton City?" Cheren asked.

"We are, yes," I said.

"Good luck with the Gym Leader, she's tough," Cheren said.

"Thanks," I responded.

We then began walking through Chargestone Cave, following signs so we don't get lost. I took notice in the glowing, blue rocks that floated around in the cave.

"How do these rocks float?" I asked Cheren.

"Electromagnetism from all of the Electric-type Pokémon," Cheren answered.

"Shit…," I muttered, seeing the one thing I didn't want to see.

It was N. He was waiting right at the exit of Chargestone Cave to Mistralton City.

"Come on out, Nero," he said.

I looked at everyone else and sighed.

"Stay here," I said, stepping out to face N.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"I want a truce," N responded.

"You destroyed my motorcycle, nearly killed me on several occasions, almost killed my Pokémon, and almost killed Victini," I pointed out.

"Exactly, I do not want these collateral damages haunting me forever," N said.

"Then leave Team Plasma! Do you even know what they are planning!?" I yelled at him.

"They're planning a new and better world for man and Pokémon!" N responded angrily.

"Is that the truth, or are those your ideals!? I know the truth and the truth is far from your perfect harmonious world!" I shouted.

"Shut up! You don't know the truth!" N snapped.

"He's the Hero of Truth; of course he knows the truth!" Spectra shouted, appearing beside me.

N's features suddenly softened upon seeing Spectra. Then a surge of electricity came from his neck as whoever was controlling him must have amped up the power in the device to keep N theirs.

"You're being controlled by Team Plasma N! This isn't you! Their ideals are not yours!" Spectra shouted.

"Stay out of this Spectra," N growled.

"No, I know N is in there somewhere, and I'm gonna get him out," Spectra said, rushing N from where she was standing.

He began backing away as Spectra got near and then black smoke swarmed in over him. The Shadow Triad grabbed N and disappeared with him.

"Damn it!" Spectra yelled out, punching the ground where N had stood.

I walked over to where she was on her hands and knees. I put my hand on her shoulder and tried soothing her.

"It's okay, we'll see him again," I said.

"I know, and then we will save him," Spectra said, sitting down next to where I was kneeling.

I stood up and offered my hand for her. She took it and I pulled her to her feet.

"Alright, it's safe, you can come out!" I called back to Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca.

They popped out and ran over.

"This whole thing involving Team Plasma and N is getting dangerous. We almost all died back in Castelia City when they unleashed all the Grimer and Muk," Cheren said.

"You don't even know," I responded.

"I don't want to know, I don't want to have any part of this," Cheren said, walking away without another word.

"Cheren!" I called after him in hopes to change his mind, but he was gone.

I turned back to Bianca.

"Please, help us stop them," I pleaded with her.

Bianca looked at me and nodded.

"Thank you," I said.

"Nero, I want to have a rematch against you, I'm much stronger now and would like a chance to show you how strong I am," Bianca said.

"Sure thing Bianca," I said, walking ten feet away from her.

I turned and pulled out one of my Pokéballs. Bianca fumbled around in her bag to find one of hers as Hilda and Spectra ran to the side of the battle area to watch.

"Go Sandile!" I called out my Pokémon.

"Go Samurott!" Bianca called out.

I pulled out my Pokédex upon seeing her new Pokémon.

"Samurott, the Formidable Pokémon. In the time it takes a foe to blink, it can draw and sheathe the seamitars attached to its front legs," my Pokédex said.

Samurott is a quadruped, blue, sea lion-like Pokémon. Long, white whiskers extend from its snout and head, and it has a red nose and eyes. On the back of its head is a large, rounded beige helmet-like shell with spikes and a spear-like, pointed protrusion in the front. A dull bluish gray seashell-like carapace covers its underbelly, and its limbs are covered with beige, sectioned bracer-like coverings, that appear to be comprised of seashells. The forelimbs' bracers are actually swords called seamitars. The lower two segments of these bracers are the scabbards for the two swords, and the upper segment and spike make up the seamitar and its handle. Samurott possess three black digits on each limb, and a fin-like, splayed tail with the innermost section being beige.

When in battle, Samurott can stand on its hind legs and use one of its blades as a sword to fight. In the time it takes a foe to blink, it can draw and sheathe the seamitars attached to its front legs. One swing of its seamitar can beat opponents. It can silence foes with a glare or a howl.

"Sandile, use Dig!" I called out.

Sandile dug straight underground and raced over to where Samurott stood waiting.

"Water Pulse as soon as he comes out!" Bianca called out.

Sandile popped out of the ground, only to be hit by the orb of water, thrown at him by Samurott. Sandile hit the ground hard and struggled to get back to his feet.

"Come on Sandile, you can do it!" I called out.

He then began glowing and stood on his hind legs, evolving into Krokorok.

"Alright, he's a Krokorok now!" I called out.

Krokorok glared at Samurott, causing the Formidable Pokémon to back up slightly.

"That's Krokorok's ability, Intimidate! It lowers the foe's attack!" Spectra announced.

"Good, Krokorok, now use Stone Edge!" I called out.

Krokorok fired the twin belts of rock over at Samurott.

"Block it with Razor Shell!" Bianca called out.

Samurott pulled out one of his seamitars and a blue aura formed over it as he blocked the Stone Edge attack.

"Bite!" I called out.

Krokorok suddenly appeared from underneath Samurott's head and bit down onto his arm. Samurott growled and tried shaking Krokorok off, but he held on.

"Hydro Pump!" Bianca called out.

Samurott fired a massive blast of water from his mouth, hitting Krokorok off him. Krokorok hit the ground and rolled a couple of times before stopping. He was knocked out.

"Samurott wins!" Spectra called out.

I lowered my head for a second and then looked at Bianca as she ran to hug her Samurott. She looked at me and I gave her a thumbs up before walking over to Krokorok.

"_Sorry Nero_," he apologized.

"Don't be, you did great," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

I turned back over to where Hilda, Spectra, and Bianca were standing and smiled.

"Let's get to Mistralton City," I said.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter XIX**

We walked out of Chargestone Cave and entered Mistralton City. It was a small city, compared to Castelia and Nimbasa, and about the size of Driftveil. There was a large airport next to the city with several passenger and cargo planes landing and departing.

"So what's the plan?" Hilda asked me.

"I'm going to the Pokémon Center first and then challenge the Gym," I said, walking into the Pokémon Center.

I handed over all six of my Pokémon and Nurse Joy healed them.

"Nero Hishiro," a familiarly seductive voice said my name.

I turned and saw Elesa sitting on one of the couches in the Pokémon Center's lobby. She got up to her feet and walked over, moving her hips back and forth. She hugged me and smiled.

"So glad to see you," she said.

"Glad to see you too," I responded, hugging her back.

Hilda, Spectra, and Bianca then walked into the Pokémon Center, stopping as they saw me hug Elesa. I pulled away to avoid the questions.

"Hey Elesa," Hilda greeted the Nimbasa City Gym Leader.

"Hi Hilda!" Elesa called out, hugging her as well.

Hilda smiled and pulled away.

"I got you both reservations at the best restaurant in Mistralton City," Elesa said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, here you both go. We're going to dinner tonight," Elesa said.

"Thank you, Elesa, but tonight is really soon," Hilda said.

"No, it's fine," I responded.

Hilda gave me a look.

"Great, I'll see you tonight," Elesa said, leaving the Pokémon Center.

Hilda immediately turned on me.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Nero?" she asked me angrily, punching me in the chest.

"Ow… What is your problem?" I asked her.

"This time," Spectra added in.

"You got us into a dinner with a _supermodel _and my hair, makeup and nails aren't even done! God, I don't even have a dress to wear!" Hilda snapped at me.

I looked at her incredulously.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I asked her.

"No, I'm serious," Hilda responded.

"Who the fuck are you trying to impress?" I asked her, growing irritated.

"No one," Hilda responded.

"Then why do you have to get all dolled up?" I asked her.

"Because the dinner's with a supermodel," Hilda said.

"Why are you trying to compete with her?" I asked.

Hilda looked at me and hesitated.

"Are you threatened by her?" I asked.

"No, of course not," Hilda responded quickly.

Too quickly. I caught her. She felt threatened by Elesa's beauty and that she'd lose me.

"I'm not going to leave you for anybody," I said, trying to reassure her.

Hilda nodded and looked at me ashamedly.

"Will you feel better if we do go to a salon to get you all dolled up?" I asked her.

She nodded and smiled slightly.

"I'll even buy you a new dress," I said.

Hilda's smile suddenly widened and she jumped into my arms, wrapping her own arms around my shoulders.

"I love you, Nero!" she exclaimed.

"I know, down girl," I responded, pushing her off me gently.

I turned and took my freshly-healed Pokémon from Nurse Joy.

"So what are you two going to do?" I asked Spectra and Bianca.

"I'm going to challenge the Mistralton City Gym while you two go dress shopping like a bunch of Academy students," Spectra said.

"I'm helping Hilda pick out a dress," Bianca said.

Hilda smiled even more and I felt much more relieved.

After finding Hilda a beautiful dress, getting her hair and nails done, and checking a room out for the next two nights at the Mistralton Inn, Hilda and I were all ready for our dinner with Elesa.

I walked into the restaurant with Hilda arm-in-arm. I was wearing a simple black tuxedo and she was wearing an elegant white dress that flowed down to her ankles. Her hair was down and straightened.

"Nero, Hilda, over here!" we heard Elesa call out.

Hilda and I walked over to where the supermodel and Gym Leader was and I noticed another woman with her. She was a little shorter than Elesa with tanned skin and red hair. She was wearing a short and tight blue dress that revealed her cleavage. Elesa was wearing a sparkling golden strapless dress that accentuated her figure and smiled when she saw us.

"Oh Nero, Hilda, this is my old friend Skyla. She's the Mistralton City Gym Leader. Skyla, these were the wonderful people I told you about," Elesa went on.

Skyla stood to her feet and looked at Hilda and me.

"You were right, Ellie, he _is _cute," Skyla said, winking at me.

Hilda glared at Skyla.

"Yes, he is, but alas he is taken by this gorgeous young lady," Elesa said, pointing out Hilda.

"Oooh, she is gorgeous," Skyla responded, looking Hilda up and down.

Hilda looked a little uncomfortable at Skyla's upfront attitude.

"Let's get some drinks!" Skyla announced suddenly.

Elesa looked at Hilda and me apologetically as Skyla pulled a waiter to take our drink orders.

We all ordered champagne and the drinks came quickly.

"So tell me about you, Nero," Skyla said, pulling me close to her.

"Um… I'm on my Journey to challenge the Unova League," I said, looking at Skyla awkwardly.

"Am I your next Gym challenge!?" Skyla asked excitedly.

"Yeah," I responded.

"YAY! Warning, I'm not easy!" Skyla announced.

We continued drinking round after round of champagne and two hours later, Hilda and I burst into our inn room. Her legs were wrapped around my waist and I walked us both to the bed. I fell back onto our bed and proceeded to unzip her dress.

Then Elesa and Skyla came into the inn room with us. They had their arms around each other and were kissing passionately. Skyla had already unzipped Elesa's dress.

Elesa lay down on the bed next to Hilda and me as Skyla pulled Elesa's dress down. She then straddled the blonde's hips and groped her breasts.

Hilda sat up and took her dress off. She then unbuckled my pants and pulled them down. She was quick to take my boxers off as well. She licked the length of my erect penis and gently sucked on the tip.

Suddenly a partially naked Skyla pulled Hilda away by her hair so she could have a turn sucking. Hilda glared at the redhead, but was then put on her back by Elesa, who began pulling Hilda's panties down with her teeth. Elesa reached up and began fingering Hilda's vagina, causing my girlfriend to moan pleasurably.

I grabbed Skyla and forced her onto her back. I unhooked her bra and sucked on her ample breasts. She moaned pleasurably as I softly bit down onto her nipple.

Elesa had just stripped Hilda's bra off and was squeezing her breasts. Hilda then grabbed Elesa by her hair and pulled her onto her back. Hilda mounted Elesa's hips and stripped the blonde from her bra as well. Skyla then reached over from beneath me to grab Elesa's breast. Hilda bit down onto the opposite nipple and Elesa moaned.

Skyla then slid out from beneath me and I found myself on my back with all three women taking turns pleasuring me orally.

This had to be one the best nights of my life. I silently prayed that it wasn't a dream.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter XX**

The next morning, I woke up with Hilda, Elesa, and Skyla naked and asleep next to me. It wasn't a dream. I began feeling giddy about having a foursome with three gorgeous women. One of them is my girlfriend, the second is a supermodel, and the third is absolutely hot.

Hilda then stirred in her sleep and looked over at me, then Elesa, and then finally Skyla before returning her gaze to me.

"How much did I have to drink last night?" she asked me.

After Skyla and Elesa had woken up, showered individually, and left, Hilda and I began looking for Spectra. She had disappeared right before we ran into Elesa at the Pokémon Center the previous day and we haven't seen her yet.

"Damn it, we never got the chance to warn the villagers that she was running loose," I joked as Hilda and I wandered through Mistralton City looking for the kleptomaniac.

"Hey Nero! Hilda! Where the hell have you two been!?" Spectra asked us loudly from on top a shipping container.

"Long story, what have you been up to?" I asked Spectra.

She then climbed down from the storage container and smiled.

"I got my sixth Badge. Nero, you'll like the Gym Leader, she's your type," Spectra said.

Hilda and I looked at our friend awkwardly.

"We've already met," I said.

"Really, how?" Spectra asked.

"Long story. Now come on, I'm gonna go challenge her to a Gym Battle," I said, walking in the direction of the Gym.

Hilda and Spectra followed me there.

"Are there any surprises in the Gym?" I asked Spectra.

"Ah, no spoilers!" Spectra responded.

"Lame," I replied.

We got to the Gym and walked inside. The interior of the Gym was a terminal with several airplanes on the side of it. Skyla was sitting in one of the airplanes, drinking some lemonade.

"Well if it isn't my cuddle buddy!" Skyla called out suddenly.

Spectra looked at Hilda's and my reaction to Skyla's outburst and managed to put two and two together.

"You screwed another Gym Leader!?" Spectra asked accusingly.

"Hey, _we _screwed another Gym Leader," I corrected her.

That earned me a glare from Hilda.

"Actually, they screwed _two _Gym Leaders at the same time," Elesa said, appearing from inside another plane.

This couldn't be more "perfect".

"So are you here for a Gym Battle, Nero?" Skyla asked me, climbing out of the plane.

She and Elesa approached the three of us.

"Yes," I answered Skyla's previous question.

"Then stand in the center of the battlefield, all of you," Skyla ordered us.

Hilda and I looked at one another as the three others made their way to the center of the battlefield. We followed suit and then a pedestal appeared from the center of the battlefield. There was a large red button on it.

"Who wants to push the red button?" Skyla asked excitedly.

None of us moved to do so.

"Fine, I'll do it!" Skyla announced, pushing the red button.

The battlefield then began lifting up out of the ground. The Gym's roof opened up and the entire battlefield rose about a thousand feet in the air.

"Now this is a real battle!" Skyla called out, running to her side of the battlefield as a pair of bleachers came forth out of the sides of the battlefield.

Hilda, Spectra, and Elesa went to go sit down and finally a mechanical referee appeared to officiate the Gym battle.

"The Gym battle will be a three-on-three battle between the Mistralton City Gym Leader, Skyla and the challenger Nero Hishiro from Nuvema Town! Only the challenger is allowed to switch Pokémon. The winner will be decided when all three Pokémon on either side is unable to battle!" the robotic referee announced.

"Nero, you may have the honors of choosing your first Pokémon after the great night last night," Skyla said, winking at me.

I involuntarily blushed at this and then sent out Honchkrow. Skyla smiled and sent out her first Pokémon. I hadn't seen this Pokémon before, so I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Unfezant, the Proud Pokémon. Males swing the plumage on their heads to threaten others, but females are better at flying," my Pokédex said.

Unfezant is a Pokémon resembling a game bird. It is primarily dark gray with lighter gray markings. The light gray markings consist of a heart-shaped patch covering its face and throat, two patches divided by a lacy line on its wings, and intricate stripes with dark rimming on its tail feather. Its beak and eyes are yellow, and it has light gray legs with three clawed toes and a spur on the ankle.

The male Unfezant has a reddish pink, wattle around its eyes. Long, ribbon-like growths from the wattle extend over its head and down past its shoulders. By swinging its head, the male threatens its opponents. The male also has a mint green underside with speckling towards the chest. In contrast, the female lacks a wattle and has brown markings on its underside. It is also more adept at flying than the male.

Skyla's Unfezant happened to be a female.

"Begin!" the referee announced.

"Nero, you may have the first move," Skyla said.

"Alright, Honchkrow, use Aerial Ace!" I called out.

"_On it_," Honchkrow responded.

He shot off into the sky and did a full loop before diving toward Unfezant.

"Wing Attack!" Skyla responded heatedly.

Unfezant spread her wings out wide and then spun into Honchkrow as he dove down, knocking him down a couple of feet. He caught himself and looked up at Unfezant, clearly surprised by her superior flying skills.

"Now use Air Slash!" Skyla called out.

Unfezant's wings glowed and she then fired twin crescents of energy at Honchkrow.

"Block with Dark Pulse!" I called out.

Honchkrow fired a pulsating beam of dark energy, which dissipated the Air Slash, and struck Unfezant in the breast. She fell to the ground in a heap and struggled to rise.

"Finish with one more Dark Pulse!" I called out.

Honchkrow fired one more pulsating beam of dark energy from his beak and hit Unfezant before she could get airborne once more, knocking her out.

"Unfezant is unable to battle!" the referee determined.

"Unfezant, return, you did great," Skyla said, returning her first Pokémon.

She then looked at me and smiled.

"You are good, Nero, but you're gonna have to be much better to beat me!" Skyla called out, sending out her second Pokémon.

I pulled out my Pokédex and aimed it at the new Pokémon.

"Swoobat, the Courting Pokémon. It shakes its tail vigorously when it emits ultrasonic waves strong enough to reduce concrete to rubble," my Pokédex said.

Swoobat is a blue, bat-like Pokémon. It has fused, pointed ears with striated, lighter colored insides and a pink, heart-shaped snout with a single nostril. Swoobat's nose can produce a many different ultrasonic waves. When it shakes its tail vigorously, it is producing sound waves powerful enough to destroy concrete. In contrast, it produces waves during courtship that can gladden any who hear it. Two wide, rounded teeth are visible in its lower jaw. A mane of shaggy, light blue fur surrounds its neck. Its black wings have a claw at the joint, and its small black feet have three toes each. It has a bare, pink tail that is twisted with two short prongs at the tip.

"Swoobat, use Attract!" Skyla called out.

A pink heart fired out from Swoobat's nose and hit Honchkrow. He became infatuated with Swoobat and danced around her.

"Damn it… Return Honchkrow," I muttered, returning him to his Pokéball.

I smiled and then sent out Haunter.

"Attract won't mean crap to her!" I pointed out.

"Attract isn't our only strategy, now Swoobat use Air Slash!" Skyla called out.

Swoobat fired twin crescents of energy at Haunter.

"Haunter use Shadow Ball!" I responded.

"_This is gonna be fun_!" Haunter called out, throwing a ball of shadowy energy at the incoming Air Slash.

The two attacks collided and exploded.

"Dark Pulse!" I called out.

Haunter fired a pulsating beam of dark energy through the smoke, hitting Swoobat.

"Double Shadow Ball!" I called out.

Haunter formed two Shadow Balls in each of her hands and then fired both of them at Swoobat, knocking her out.

"Swoobat is unable to battle!" the referee called out.

Skyla returned the Psychic/Flying-type back to her Pokéball and then looked at me.

"He is really strong…," she muttered under her breath as she readied her next Pokémon.

She sent it out and I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Swanna, the White Bird Pokémon. Despite their elegant appearance, they can flap their wings strongly and fly for thousands of miles," my Pokédex said.

Swanna is a swan-like Pokémon with primarily white plumage. Its beak is long and yellow topped with a black cere, and it has several white feathery features adorning its head. The more rounded of the features are to the sides of its head, and the more pointed feature is atop. Swanna possesses a long, curving neck. With a fluid neck and a strong bill, Swanna is capable of very accurate jabbing and thrusting attacks. Two light-blue feathery features, similar to those on the sides of Swanna's head, are present on Swanna's underside, and Swanna's large wings are positioned so that they curve away from its body. Swanna's legs are small, and its webbed feet dark. Swanna is known to fly for thousands of miles without rest. Swanna flies out when the sun rises. At dusk, flocks of Swanna will dance, with the leader in the middle of the routine.

"Haunter, use Poison Jab!" I called out.

Both of her disembodied hand glowed purple and then shot off in different directions, circling around the battlefield.

"Use Water Pulse!" Skyla called out.

A pulse of water spread out from Swanna, knocking Haunter's hands away, and hitting her dead on.

"Now use Brave Bird!" Skyla called out.

Swanna spread her wings out wide and became engulfed in a blue aura. She dove down toward Haunter and hit her, knocking her out.

"Haunter is unable to battle!" the referee announced.

I returned Haunter to her Pokéball and then smiled.

"Rest up," I said, sending out my next Pokémon.

Honchkrow hovered in the air in front of me and smiled.

"Bubblebeam!" Skyla called out.

"Dark Pulse!" I responded.

Swanna fired a barrage of bubbles while Honchkrow fired a beam of pulsating dark energy. The two attacks collided and exploded.

"Aerial Ace!" I called out.

Honchkrow shot through the smoke and hit Swanna hard.

"Use Water Pulse!" Skyla called out.

A pulse of water exploded out of Swanna's midsection and threw Honchkrow through the air.

"Level out and use Shadow Ball!" I ordered.

Honchkrow used his wings to slow down and then fired an orb of shadowy energy at Swanna.

"Aqua Ring!" Skyla responded.

A veil of water circled around Swanna and blocked the Shadow Ball as it increased Swanna's health.

"Now finish this with Brave Bird!" Skyla shouted.

Swanna dove in, engulfed in the blue colored energy, and knocked Honchkrow out.

"Honchkrow is unable to battle!" the referee announced.

I returned my old friend to his Pokéball and smiled. Swanna's Aqua Ring recovered even more health for her and then I sent out my final Pokémon. Charizard.

"Why did Nero choose Charizard, he's weak against Water-types," Spectra pointed out.

"Type advantages don't always matter," Hilda and I said in unison, though I was saying to myself.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter XXI**

I smiled.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" I called out.

"Swanna, use Bubblebeam!" Skyla responded.

The flames were extinguished by the bubbles and steam covered the entire battlefield.

"I can't see," Skyla pointed out, trying to see her own Pokémon.

"Charizard, take a note from Zoroark's playbook and do what she does best," I told him.

"_On it_," Charizard responded.

Swanna tried looking around for any sign of Charizard or her Trainer, but couldn't see anything. Then a Dragon Claw hit her from behind, knocking her out of the sky. She looked up and around, but still couldn't see. Then a Dragon Rage came down toward her from above, but she dodged.

"Swanna, get rid of the steam with Water Pulse!" Skyla shouted.

Swanna fired the pulse of water and it pushed the steam away. Charizard wasn't anywhere to be seen. I stood there with my arms crossed and smiled.

"Now use Dragon Rush!" I called out.

Charizard came rushing out from beneath the battlefield. He was engulfed in draconic energy in the shape of a dragon and slammed into Swanna. He shot straight up into the air and then fell straight back down, slamming Swanna back down into the battlefield and knocking her out.

"Swanna is unable to battle! All of Skyla's Pokémon are unable to battle, therefore, Nero Hishiro is the winner!" the referee called out.

"Alright, Charizard!" I called out, running toward the Fire/Flying-type Pokémon.

I jumped up and hugged him as Skyla returned Swanna to her Pokéball. She smiled at me and walked over along with Hilda, Spectra, and Elesa.

"Congrats Nero! Wow, Elesa, you were right about him being strong, but you never said he was _that _strong!" Skyla exclaimed, smacking Elesa on the ass as hard as she could.

The model/Gym Leader wasn't fazed, but smiled at her fellow Gym Leader.

"Here you go Nero, the Jet Badge," Skyla said, handing over my sixth Badge.

It was shaped like a stylized feather, with a soaring bird at the bottom.

"Thank you," I said.

"No thank you, I haven't felt this much of a rush since the first time Elesa and I…," Skyla went on before Elesa covered her mouth.

"Now that isn't a story appropriate to tell, Skyla," Elesa said.

She then removed her hand from Skyla's mouth and smiled.

"Sorry, Ellie," Skyla apologized, but the blonde simply gave her a full kiss on the lips.

"It's okay, Sky," Elesa responded.

"Eww, PDA," Spectra muttered, shaking her head.

Suddenly a gust of wind got my attention and I turned to face Tornadus on one side of the flying battlefield.

"Oh no," Hilda muttered, looking at the other side of the battlefield.

I turned and saw Thundurus.

"Shit," I muttered.

Finally, a third Pokémon entered the scene and I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Landorus, the Abundance Pokémon. From the forces of lightning and wind, it creates energy to give nutrients to the soil and make the land abundant," my Pokédex said.

Landorus is an orange, muscular humanoid Pokémon, which resembles a genie. It is a male-only species with no female counterpart. On its forehead are three, sharp, pink horns arranged in a slight, upwards arch. Landorus has a white protrusion shaped like a short log on top of its head, a jagged white mustache and two pointed orange ears on either side of its head. Its eyes are yellow with beady white irises and no visible pupils. The front of Landorus' body is covered in dark pink spots; most of them shaped like diamonds, pebbles and raindrops. its broad chest consists of two joined, dark pink diamond shaped pectorals and its shoulders, elbows and navel are adorned with designs resembling raindrops. It has two spotted muscular arms, with five fingers on each hand. Its lower body consists of a trailing cloud, with a long, curling, brown, branch or root-like tail. Landorus' tail has various flat protrusions running its span, each spotted in dark pink on their edge surface.

"Skyla, land us now!" I shouted as Tornadus fired a ball of energy across the flying battlefield at Thundurus, who responded with bolts of electricity.

Landorus then fired his own Stone Edge and struck the battlefield in front of Skyla, tossing her like a ragdoll.

"Skyla!" Elesa called out.

Wind, rain, and lightning soon hit us all and then Landorus grabbed Tornadus and slammed him into his side of the battlefield, severely damaging the propulsion system that kept it airborne. The battlefield began to tilt and we slid off the edge of it into the thousand foot free fall.

"NERO!" Hilda screamed out to me.

"Hilda!" I called out in response.

White flames came over me and I shot off toward Hilda. I caught her and then began flying off to save the others.

I caught Spectra with my other hand as Elesa and Skyla grabbed each other. Land was coming up fast and I knew I wasn't going to be fast enough.

Suddenly Charizard flew up to the two Gym Leaders and caught them before they hit the ground. I landed in the center of Mistralton City and released Hilda and Spectra. Charizard landed beside me, letting Elesa and Skyla go.

We looked up at the flying battlefield was descending straight for us. Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus were trading blows just above it.

"Oh no!" Hilda cried out.

"_**Evacuate everybody, get them as far away from the city as possible**_!" Reshiram and I shouted at Skyla.

"What are you going to do?" Hilda asked.

"_**Stop that thing from falling**_," I responded, launching up from the city.

I flew toward the falling battlefield as rain hit me in the face.

I hit it in midair and began firing flames from my feet to try and slow the descent. Suddenly Thundurus was thrown through the battlefield, causing it to split in half.

The top half fell away from me and I wasn't able to catch it. Charizard then came flying over and grabbed it in midair.

He landed first and held the massive chunk of the battlefield above him. I then landed and held my half, keeping it from damaging any of the buildings in Mistralton City.

Charizard and I then lay the battlefield pieces down on the airport runway and I looked up at the three Legendary Pokémon.

"_**Go help the others evacuate**_!" Reshiram and I ordered.

Charizard nodded and flew off. I shot up into the sky to face off with the Legendary Pokémon.

Back in Mistralton City, a familiar blonde was walking through the evacuating city toward where Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus were. He smiled up at the Legendary Pokémon and aimed a gun at them.

"You're mine!" he shouted, alerting me to his presence.

I turned and saw none other than Colress fire three Team Plasma mind control devices up at the three Legendary Pokémon, hitting each one.

They all yelled out in pain and then looked at me.

"Don't bother with him, come on, let's leave!" Colress ordered.

Landorus flew down to take the Team Plasma scientist away and flew off with Thundurus and Tornadus.

"_**No**_!" Reshiram and I shouted.

We tried to fly after them, but Thundurus turned back around and electrocuted me. I fell out of the sky in a smoking heap and crashed into the roof of the Pokémon Center.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter XXII**

I woke up on a pile of rubble in the middle of a vacant Pokémon Center. Everyone had already been evacuated. I looked up at the massive hole in the ceiling I had created when I was shot down by Thundurus. It was still raining and drops were hitting me as they fell through the hole in the roof.

"_**They got them…**_," Reshiram and I said.

I then realized I was still in my White Flare Form. I exited back into my normal form and slowly got to my feet.

I walked out of the Pokémon Center, but found all of Mistralton City completely empty. It was quiet besides the gentle patter of rain hitting the ground.

"Hello!" I called out only to hear my voice echo back to me.

No one responded. I reached for my Pokéballs and sent out Zoroark, Cubone, and Krokorok. Honchkrow and Haunter were still recovering from the Gym Battle and Charizard was with the evacuated.

"_What happened_?" Cubone asked, looking around the empty city.

"Long story. We need to find where everyone went to," I responded.

"_Alright, let me see if I can smell them out_," Zoroark said, sniffing the air.

I waited until she got a scent.

"_I smell dirty feet, like as if the feet have never worn shoes in all their life_," Zoroark said.

"That'd be Spectra, follow the scent and maybe we can find everyone else," I said.

Zoroark nodded and ran off in the direction of the smell. Cubone, Krokorok, and I followed behind her and we got to the forested area beside Mistralton City.

I then saw a huge group of people and immediately made out Hilda amongst them.

"Hilda!" I called out, running over to them.

Hilda turned and looked at me before running toward me. We got to each other and Hilda practically jumped into my arms.

"Oh my God, Nero, you're okay," she gasped into my chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine… I'm fine," I responded, holding her in my arms, and returning Charizard to his Pokéball as soon as I saw him.

"What happened with Thundurus, Tornadus, and Landorus?" she asked me.

"Colress took them," I revealed, pulling away from Hilda.

She looked at me, confused by my revelation.

"What do you mean?" she asked me.

"Colress came by while I was trying to stop the fighting… he hit them with a mind control device, and then left with all three of them," I explained.

"Oh no…," Hilda responded.

"Where did they go?" Skyla asked, stepping toward us.

"To the west," I responded.

"Shit, they're heading toward the Nature Preserve," Skyla swore, immediately running back toward Mistralton City.

Hilda and I looked at each other and then Skyla turned back to us.

"You two, barefoot girl, and Elesa need to come with me right now!" she ordered.

We all ran alongside her and got back to the Mistralton City airport.

"Elesa told me what Team Plasma has been doing recently and my guess is that if they were heading west, then they only place they could be is the Nature Preserve," Skyla explained as she walked into a hangar.

"What is the Nature Preserve?" I asked.

"It's a protected area for wild Pokémon. Only a few people are allowed to go there. I'm one of those people," Skyla said as she walked up to a plane.

She turned back toward us and smiled.

"Now, since Team Plasma is intruding there, _we're _all one of those people," she said, opening the door to the medium-sized aircraft.

I was sitting in a seat next to Hilda while both Skyla and Elesa were in the cockpit of the plane. Spectra was sitting in a seat across from us.

"You all may want to hang on, she gets bumpy!" Skyla called out on an intercom.

Hilda immediately grabbed my arm and we took off from Mistralton City. There was some turbulence during takeoff, but we got through it, and began making our way to the Nature Preserve.

Hilda and I looked out the plane window, admiring the thick forest between Mistralton City and the Nature Preserve.

Suddenly the plane shook violently and Hilda and I looked at each other.

"Everyone hold on! We're entering a storm!" Skyla called out on the intercom.

The concern in her voice did not help quell the concern the three of us were facing.

"Oh my God!" we heard Elesa scream and the plane suddenly did a barrel roll.

The back end of the plane was then ripped off and the suction began trying to pull all three of us toward it.

"We're going down!" Skyla called out.

I then entered my White Flare Form and reached to unbuckle my seatbelt.

"Nero, no!" Spectra warned me, but it was too late.

I was pulled over my seat and flew out the back of the plane. I flipped end-over-end through the smoke billowing out in the back of the falling plane. I caught myself and shot off like a rocket back toward it.

I grabbed onto the wing to use it to pull myself over to the nose, but the wing then ripped off causing me to go behind the plane with the wing in hand. I released it and shot off to try again. I flew in through the hole in the back of the plane and pulled myself with help from the seats.

"_**ELESA! SKYLA! COME OUT**_!" Reshiram and I called out.

The two came out, low the ground.

"_**Everyone let go, now**_!" Reshiram and I ordered.

I watched as they either stood up or unbuckled their seatbelt. We all then flew out the back of the plane.

"_**Grab hands, now**_!" Reshiram and I ordered.

I grabbed Hilda's and Elesa's hand. They grabbed Spectra's and Skyla's hand respectively. We formed a human chain in midair and I stopped our freefall as the plane crashed into the ground.

We slowly got to the ground and I exited my White Flare Form. Skyla collapsed to the ground and had both hands on either side of her head.

"We… we survived a plane crash…," she said to herself.

Elesa knelt down beside her to comfort her friend. I turned to Hilda and Spectra.

"Are you two okay?" I asked them.

They both nodded. I then turned to Skyla.

"How far are we from the Nature Preserve?" I asked her.

"About a… about a mile, I think…," she responded.

She was shaking really bad and going into shock. I looked at Elesa.

"Hey, keep her calm. The three of us will go on ahead," I told her.

Elesa nodded and resumed in comforting her friend. I turned back to Hilda and Spectra.

"Come on, we need to get going," I told them.

We left Elesa and Skyla and continued on our way to the Nature Preserve.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter XXIII**

Hilda, Spectra, and I walked onto a main path that led to a large gate. On the top of the gate was a colorful sign that said "Unova Nature Preserve".

"We're here," I said, running the final length to the gate.

"Whoa, where are you going, kid?" a security guard asked me.

"I need to go into the Preserve," I said as Hilda and Spectra joined me.

"Not without a pass you're not," the security guard said.

Spectra sighed and then jabbed her fingers into his neck, knocking him out.

"Hey!" a second security guard called out, running over with a third in tow.

"Go stop Team Plasma off, I'll hold these rent-a-cops off," Spectra responded, running away from the both of us, and leading the security guards away.

I looked at her running away and nodded before heading into the Nature Preserve.

"We need to find Team Plasma. Colress was heading this way, and I know that storm we flew through wasn't a normal storm," I told Hilda.

Suddenly an explosion alerted both of us toward the center of the Preserve.

"I got one guess who that could be," Hilda muttered.

I didn't bother responding, instead choosing to run off in the direction of the explosion.

"_Always the hero_," Reshiram said to me in my head.

"Well, I am the Hero of Truth," I responded as I continued to run.

I got to the area of the explosion and saw a wide variety of Pokémon running off in various directions. I then saw two Pokémon facing off with each other.

I pulled out my Pokédex for the both of them.

"Shiftry, the Wicked Pokémon. By flapping its leafy fan, it can whip up gusts of a hundred feet per second that can level houses. Haxorus, the Axe Jaw Pokémon. Its tusks are incredibly destructive. They can easily slice through a thick, sturdy steel column every time," my Pokédex said.

Shiftry is a large, brown bipedal Pokémon. It has a long, shaggy, white mane that covers most of its face. It has long ears, a long pointed nose, and a large mouth with teeth that are usually gritted. Its eyes are opaque yellow with black sclera and pupils. It has three broad leaves with brown spokes on its hands, which it uses to create powerful winds. These winds can move close to 100 feet per second in speed. A female will have smaller leaves than a male. Its feet resemble Japanese tengu-geta.

Shiftry can read an opponent's mind, and then take preemptive action. It is a wicked and mysterious Pokémon that lives in deep forests. It arrives in chilly, wintry winds. People fear it and consider it the guardian of the forest.

Haxorus is a bipedal Pokémon with a darkish yellow-green color covering its back and most of the front, black skin covering its torso, tail tip, and thighs, as well as red talons and claws. It has large black and red scythe like tusks coming out of its upper jaw on the side of its mouth. Haxorus has medium sized eyes with red irises and black pupils. There is ridged plate like skin going up from its back to its head region. It has solid armor and the legs and tail have a dividing line pattern. Haxorus's arms are quite small and divided into three digits with two oval-shaped triceps and biceps and circular elbows. Haxorus's hands are small and circular with small red claws. Its legs are formidable and strong with three toed feet with a red talon on each toe.

There was something strange about the Haxorus, however. Instead of being a darkish yellow-green in color, it was smoky gray. It's eyes were also glowing bright red. I then realized that it was black in color due to it being a Shiny Pokémon, but the reason behind why its eyes were red was because it was being controlled by a Team Plasma mind control device.

The Shiftry then fired a Shadow Ball at the Haxorus, but the Dragon-type Pokémon simply used its axe-like jaw to deflect the Shadow Ball back into the Grass/Dark-type Pokémon. I watched it skid across the ground over to us. The Haxorus then fired a pulse of draconic energy at all three of us, but the Shiftry responded with Protect, protecting all of us from the attack.

"_Get out of here, now_!" Shiftry ordered us.

"No, we can help you!" I responded, sending out Charizard and Zoroark.

"Flamethrower, the both of you!" I called out.

Charizard took to the air and unleashed a stream of fire down onto Haxorus while Zoroark attacked from the ground. Haxorus took both hits and then used Dragon Pulse to knock the flames away. Haxorus then fired one more Dragon Pulse, but Shiftry blocked it with Shadow Ball.

"Hishiro is here!" a Team Plasma Grunt called out as he and a partner ran onto the scene.

They sent out a pair of Liepard to protect Haxorus.

"Slash!" one of them called out.

One Liepard began slashing its claws at Zoroark.

"Night Daze!" I responded.

Zoroark became engulfed in purple flames and knocked the Liepard into the other.

"Now use Flamethrower!" I called out to both Charizard and Zoroark.

The both unleashed streams of fire to defeat the Liepard.

"Kirlia, use Teleport!" Hilda suddenly called out.

I turned to her in shock. She had just teleported with Kirlia and was now behind Haxorus. She then jumped onto its back and began trying to pry the mind control device from Haxorus.

"Stop her!" one of the Grunts called out.

One of them pulled out an electric prodder and tried jabbing Hilda with it, but Kirlia suddenly propelled them both through the air with a blast of psychic energy. Hilda then pulled the mind control device off of Haxorus and fell off, but Kirlia caught her telekinetically. Kirlia lowered her down to the ground safe and sound as Haxorus fell forward.

"Thank you," Hilda said to Kirlia.

Kirlia smiled and then began glowing. Hilda pulled out her Pokédex, knowing what was happening.

"Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. To protect its Trainer, it will expend all its psychic power to create a small black hole," her Pokédex said.

Gardevoir is a white bipedal Pokémon with a lower body resembling a slim gown with a green underside. It has long, slender, white legs underneath the gown, and green hair that curls down the sides of its head. There are spikes on the side of its face, resembling a masquerade mask. It has green arms and long, slender fingers that resemble gloves. A red fin-like horn extends from its chest, and a shorter, more rounded horn extends from the back. A band of green on its chest extends to the centermost horn and connects to its sleeve-like arms.

Gardevoir can sense when its Trainer is in danger, and will use its psychic power to distort dimensions and create a small black hole to protect its Trainer. It will even give up its life to protect its Trainer. It can use its powers to see the future. Since it supports itself with its psychic powers, it does not feel the pull of gravity. It is known to inhabit urban areas.

Gardevoir floated next to Hilda and watched as the Haxorus slowly got back to its feet.

"_What happened_?" he asked with me translating everything to Hilda.

Shiftry came over to assist his friend.

"_Some bad humans were controlling your mind and causing you to attack everyone_," Shiftry explained.

"_What!? Were these the bad humans_?" Haxorus asked, growling at Hilda and me.

"_No, the female freed you herself_," Shiftry defended us.

Haxorus looked at Hilda and nodded.

"_Thank you for freeing me, I am in your debt human. If you wish to have me as a partner, I oblige_," Haxorus growled.

Shiftry looked at Haxorus in surprise.

"_But…_," Shiftry responded.

"_Shiftry, you're guardian of this area now. You did a great job protecting it while I was being controlled. I feel that these humans know more about the bad humans than either of us, and I want to redeem myself for any damage I've caused_," Haxorus explained.

Shiftry nodded and Hilda pulled out a Pokéball. She then caught the Shiny Haxorus.

"You'll be a great addition to my team," she said, smiling as the Pokéball shot out sparks, indicating that Haxorus had been caught.

Spectra, the three security guards, Elesa, and Skyla all approached us all.

"What happened!?" one of the security guards; the one Spectra had knocked out at the gate to be more precise, asked angrily.

Hilda and I went on to explain ourselves and Skyla and Elesa backed us up.

The security guards then ran off to find the Team Plasma Grunts.

"They won't find them," I said.

"Yeah, we should go back to Mistralton City," Hilda agreed.

"How, we don't have a plane?" Skyla questioned.

I looked at her and smiled.

"We don't need a plane," I said.

Soon enough we were all flying back to Mistralton City. I was in my White Flare Form with Hilda holding onto me. Spectra was next to us, flying on Sweetheart, and both Elesa and Skyla were on my either side flying on Charizard's back.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter XXIV**

The next morning, Hilda, Spectra, and I were in the Pokémon Center getting our Pokémon healed.

Hilda and Spectra then went to the market to buy more supplies and left me with all our Pokémon. I looked at Gallade and approached him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you sooner, a lot has been going on," I said to him.

"_Do not apologize to me Sir Nero, I understand fully. I am grateful that you brought me out with you now_," Gallade responded.

"You're gonna be a great addition to my team," I said.

Gallade bowed over curtly and I sat down on a bench. Hilda and Spectra came over with several bags of supplies in their hands. They even had bought three large backpacks to put it all in along with our clothes. Gallade hurried to help put the supplies away and we were then leaving Mistralton City with our Pokémon in their Pokéballs.

A couple hours later we got to the base of a large mountain.

"Nero Hishiro!" Cheren called down to us from one of the paths on the mountain.

He then slid down the slope and got to us.

"Cheren Black," I greeted my friend.

"I challenge you to a six-on-six Pokémon battle," he said.

I smiled and nodded.

"Alright, let's go," I said.

Hilda and Spectra looked at each other.

Cheren and I face off against each other and Hilda acted as referee.

"This will be a six-on-six Pokémon battle between Nero Hishiro and Cheren Black, both Trainers will be allowed to switch out Pokémon, and a winner will be declared when all six of a Trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle!" Hilda announced.

"I'll choose first, Braviary, prepare for battle!" Cheren called out.

I pulled out my Pokédex for this new Pokémon.

"Braviary, the Valiant Pokémon. For the sake of its friends, this brave warrior of the sky will not stop battling, even if injured," my Pokédex said.

Braviary is a large, avian Pokémon with dark red feathers on its back and dark blue feathers on its underside. Its tail feathers are red, turning to yellow, and then blue at the tips. Braviary's legs are long and thick with yellow feet that each have a digit facing backward, and three facing forward. Each digit is tipped by a short, thick, black claw.

Braviary has a long, thick beak with a blue cere. On either side of the cere are Braviary's eyes, which are black with small white pupils. Sprouting from above the eyes are three large, white feathers. At the base of the feathers is a red, three-pointed design that is spread across all three feathers. On each side of Braviary's face, sprouting out from behind the feathers on its forehead, are an additional three white feathers pointing horizontally and downward. Behind the three feathers on its head is a large plume of white feathers, extending most of the way down its neck. These features combined resemble a Native American war bonnet.

Braviary is extremely aggressive, but for noble reasons. It will fight fiercely to help and protect its friends. Even if injured, it will still fight. The more scars it has, the more respect it gets from its peers. It has earned the nickname "soldier of the sky" due to its extreme dedication for its friends. Aiding its valiance, Braviary is extremely strong, capable of lifting a car and flying with it.

"Go Honchkrow!" I called out my first Pokémon.

Honchkrow hovered in the air with Braviary in front of him.

"Crush Claw, Braviary!" Cheren called out.

Braviary swooped in and grabbed Honchkrow by his midsection in his claws before squeezing really tight.

"Honchkrow, use Dark Pulse!" I called out in response.

Honchkrow tried firing the pulsating beam of dark energy, but couldn't get his head around to Braviary, so instead fired it straight ahead, propelling both Pokémon through the air.

"Hold on, Braviary!" Cheren called out.

Braviary kept his grip even as the two Pokémon soared through the air, propelled by the Dark Pulse.

"Sky Drop!" Cheren called out.

Braviary suddenly dropped out of the sky, Honchkrow-first, and slammed him into the ground. Braviary jumped off and hovered in the air in front of Cheren.

"Honchkrow!" I called out, pleading that he was okay.

Honchkrow struggled to get back on his feet.

"Use Thrash!" Cheren called out.

Braviary shot off at Honchkrow just as he got to his feet and began kicking and hitting him with his feet and wings. Braviary then kicked Honchkrow up into the air.

"End it with Brave Bird!" Cheren ordered.

"Sky Attack, Honchkrow!" I called up to him.

Both Pokémon built up energy and shot off toward one another. Both hit the other and an explosion from the massive amounts of energy hitting shrouded both Pokémon in smoke. Braviary flew out of the smoke, damaged, but still able to fight. Honchkrow, however, fell out of the smoke and couldn't battle anymore.

"Honchkrow is unable to battle!" Hilda called out.

I stood there, shocked at Braviary's power.

"Honchkrow, return," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

I stood there, thinking of what Pokémon I should choose next, and then decided.

"Go Haunter!" I called out.

"Nero, let's pause this battle real quick," Cheren said suddenly.

I looked at him strangely.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, you see, Haunter is a special Pokémon that in order to evolve, you need to trade her," Cheren explained.

"Oh?" I responded.

"Yeah, I have one of those Pokémon as well, so I was thinking we could trade Pokémon and evolve them so they could both be at their full power," Cheren went on.

I thought it over and then looked at Haunter.

"What do you think?" I asked her.

"_It sounds like fun_," she said.

I looked back at Cheren.

"Alright, I'll do it," I said.

Cheren then brought out a Pokéball and walked to the center of our makeshift battlefield. I returned Haunter to her Pokéball and approached Cheren. We handed over our Pokéballs and watched as they glowed. As soon as the glowing subsided, we returned our respective Pokéballs, and walked back to our sides of the battlefield.

I then sent out the evolved form of Haunter. I readied my Pokédex for her.

"Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. The leer that floats in darkness belongs to a Gengar delighting in casting curses on people," my Pokédex said.

Gengar is a dark purple, bipedal Pokémon with a roundish body. It has red eyes and a wide mouth that is usually curled into a sinister grin. Multiple spikes cover its back, and it has large pointed ears. Its arms and legs are short with three digits on both its hands and feet. It also has a stubby tail.

Gengar has the ability to hide perfectly in the shadow of any object, granting it exceptional stealth. However, Gengar's body acts as a heat sink; its presence cools the temperature of the surrounding area by nearly ten degrees Fahrenheit, because it absorbs the warmth. In addition, Gengar possesses the ability to fly through the air.

Gengar is very mischievous, and at times, malicious. It enjoys playing practical jokes and casting curses, such as pretending to be one's shadow, then behaving erratically. When the quarry notices, the Gengar takes delight in its victim's terror. However, Gengar has been known to be loyal to a Trainer who treats it well. Gengar lives in shadows of rooms, caves, and dark places where shadows form. It is especially fond of urban areas such as cities and back alleys, but only during the night.

"Now let's resume our battle!" Cheren called out.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter XXV**

"Gengar, use Poison Jab!" I called out.

She phased down into the ground and a shadow shot across the ground to Braviary. Gengar then shot out of the ground like a geyser and sent a poisoned uppercut into Braviary's chin.

"Sky Drop!" Cheren called out.

"Dodge it!" I responded.

Braviary tried grabbing Gengar with his talons, but she phased back into the ground, and he only grabbed earth.

"Finish this with Dark Pulse!" I shouted.

"_This is for Honcho_!" Gengar called out, reappearing just enough to hit Braviary point-blank with a beam of pulsating dark energy, knocking the Normal/Flying-type Pokémon out.

"Braviary is unable to battle, Gengar is the winner!" Hilda announced.

Cheren smirked and returned Braviary to his Pokéball.

"Gengar, return," I said, returning her to her Pokéball.

Cheren and I smirked at one another.

"Go Gigalith!" he called out.

"Go Cubone!" I called out.

The two Pokémon looked at each other and Cubone looked nervously at the much larger Pokémon.

"Cubone, it's okay," I tried reassuring him.

He looked back at me and nodded.

"Gigalith, use Rock Blast!" Cheren called out.

"Dodge it!" I responded.

Gigalith fired massive rockets from its maw at Cubone, who tried his best to dodge them all, but the fifth and final one hit him to the ground.

"Now use Giga Impact!" Cheren called out.

Gigalith became engulfed in energy and charged Cubone, knocking the little Ground-type Pokémon out.

I looked at him sadly and picked him up.

"_I'm sorry… Nero_," he said sadly.

"It's okay, Cubone, you did your best," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

I then sent out Gallade.

"Gallade, use Psycho Cut!" I called out.

Gallade jumped up and fired twin violet crescents of psychic energy down onto Gigalith. The attacks hit him, but didn't do much.

"Rock Blast!" Cheren called out.

Gigalith fired the rocks at Gallade as he was still up in the air.

"Watch out!" I called out.

Gallade smiled and readied a Leaf Blade with both arm blades. He cut through the first rock, kicked the second to a cloud of pebbles, and spun around the third before coming down onto Gigalith with the Leaf Blade attack, knocking him out.

"Gigalith is unable to battle!" Hilda called out.

Gallade stood in front of me and nodded at me.

"Gigalith, return," Cheren said.

He smiled and sent out Electivire.

"Gallade, do _not _use Shock Wave," I warned the Psychic/Fighting-type.

"_Understood_," he responded.

"Fire Punch!" Cheren called out.

"Dodge it and use Psycho Cut!" I called out.

Electivire ran forward with his fists cloaked in fire, but Gallade jumped over him and fired the twin violet crescents of psychic energy down at the Electric-type.

"Close Combat!" I called out.

Gallade landed behind Electivire and turned to deliver his next attack.

"Protect!" Cheren called out.

Electivire blocked every hit and kick Gallade had to offer.

"Now finish this with Thunder!" Cheren called out.

Electivire then wrapped both his tails around Gallade's arms and sent several volts of electricity into him, knocking him out. Electivire let Gallade fall.

"Gallade, return," I said, returning him to his Pokéball.

I then sent Gengar back out.

"Electivire, use ThunderPunch!" Cheren ordered.

"Poison Jab!" I responded.

Electivire and Gengar charged and hit each other with their respective moves. Then a surge of electricity went over Gengar and a shock of poison went over Electivire.

Gengar had been paralyzed and Electivire had been poisoned.

"Electivire, Paralysis slows her down, use Fire Punch!" Cheren called out.

"Dodge it!" I called out hurriedly.

Electivire went to hit Gengar, but she slipped into the ground. She wasn't fast enough, however, and was still hit before she could phase completely beneath the ground.

"Gengar, Shadow Ball!" I shouted.

Gengar came back up and tried to fire a barrage of shadowy energy balls, but a surge of electricity prevented her to do so. Damage was dealt to Electivire via poison.

"ThunderPunch!" Cheren called out.

"Dark Pulse!" I responded.

Electivire tried hitting Gengar with an electrically-charged punch, but was knocked back by a beam of pulsating dark energy.

"Finish this with Thunder!" Cheren called out.

Electivire fired the massive bolt of electricity at Gengar, knocking her out. Electivire was then afflicted by the poison and was knocked out as well.

"Both Gengar and Electivire are unable to battle!" Hilda called out.

Four of my six Pokémon had been knocked out and Cheren still has three of his.

I pulled out my fifth Pokémon and smiled nonetheless.

"Go Zoroark!" I called out.

"Go Liepard!" Cheren called out.

"Flamethrower!" I called out.

"Fake Out, quick!" Cheren responded.

Before Zoroark could use Flamethrower, Liepard jumped up, and smacked Zoroark on either side of her head. Zoroark was so taken back of using Flamethrower, she flinched.

"Now use Shadow Ball!" Cheren ordered.

Liepard fired an orb of shadowy energy, hitting Zoroark.

"Liepard is fast, Zoroark use Night Slash with our special trick!" I called out.

Zoroark ran forward, leaving a trail of illusions around Liepard before hitting the Dark-type.

"Now use Flamethrower!" I ordered.

Zoroark used an up-close Flamethrower to knock Liepard out.

"Liepard is unable to battle!" Hilda called out.

Cheren returned Liepard to her Pokéball and then smiled.

"Go Conkeldurr!" he called out.

I brought out my Pokédex right away.

"Conkeldurr, the Muscular Pokémon. Rather than rely on force, they master moves that utilize the centrifugal force of spinning concrete," my Pokédex said.

Conkeldurr is a bipedal sepia-colored Pokémon resembling an ogre. Its nose is large and red, with its face also having a prominent brow, a wide mouth, a gray tuft on its chin, dark rings around its eyes and a bulbous feature sticking up from the back of his head. Thick violet bands and tendons adorn its shoulders, chest, back and thighs. It is known to carry concrete pillars in its massive arms, which it uses to attack strongly without using physical strength or to support its massive upper body. Conkeldurr can create concrete, a technique it was believed to have taught humans 2000 years ago. It is often seen around construction sites helping construction workers.

"Zoroark, use Flamethrower!" I called out.

Zoroark unleashed flames onto Conkeldurr, who took the attack. While on fire, Conkeldurr grinned mercilessly and then dissipated the flames by slamming both of his concrete pillars into the ground.

"Stone Edge," Cheren ordered.

Conkeldurr picked up the concrete pillars and slammed them together, firing pointed stones into Zoroark.

"Night Slash!" I ordered.

Zoroark dashed forward and hit the Fighting-type, but it did little damage.

"Finish this with Superpower," Cheren ordered.

Conkeldurr slammed both pillars into either side of Zoroark. He then picked her up and slammed her down onto the ground, knocking her out.

"Zoroark is unable to battle!" Hilda called out.

I returned her to her Pokéball. I was down to my last Pokémon. I smiled and sent out Charizard, who appeared from his Pokéball amongst a flurry of flames.

"Let's do this, Charizard!" I shouted.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter XXVI**

"Conkeldurr, Stone Edge!" Cheren called out.

Conkeldurr fired the pointed stones at Charizard.

"Dragon Rush!" I shouted.

Charizard became engulfed in draconic energy in the shape of a dragon and charged through the Stone Edge, hit Conkeldurr, threw him down into the ground so hard he bounced back up into Charizard's arms, and was then slammed down even harder only to bounce back up again.

"Flamethrower to end this!" I roared.

Charizard engulfed Conkeldurr in searing hot flames before the Fighting-type could hit the ground for the third time. Conkeldurr was knocked out.

"Conkeldurr is unable to battle!" Hilda called out.

Cheren sighed and returned Conkeldurr to his Pokéball.

"It seems fitting… that our battle goes down to our final Pokémon. You are my greatest rival after all. Now show me what you got! Go Serperior!" Cheren called out, sending out his final Pokémon.

I pulled out my Pokédex.

"Serperior, the Regal Pokémon. It only gives its all against strong opponents who are not fazed by the glare from Serperior's noble eyes," my Pokédex said.

Serperior is a primarily pale green, serpentine Pokémon. Its face and throat are white, while its back is dark green. Curled, pale green patterns extend into the white portion of its face, and it has narrow red eyes. There are two pointed yellow extensions on the back of its head. There are curly, dark green extensions that spread out from the sides of its lower neck, and form curling pattern lower down the body. It has curved yellow markings around its middle and several palmate leaves on its tail. Serperior will hold its head high and only use all its strength against opponents that are unfazed by its piercing glare. It is capable of amplifying solar energy with its body.

Serperior glared at Charizard, who only growled in response. Serperior then smiled, knowing he would have to give his all against this powerful opponent.

"Serperior, use Leaf Blade!" Cheren called out.

Charizard didn't even both dodging the attack and took the Leaf Blade to the side of the face. He was unfazed.

"Dragon Claw!" I called out.

Charizard's claws glowed with draconic energy and then charged forward to hit Serperior in the face.

"Leaf Blade!" Cheren called out in response.

Serperior blocked the Dragon-type attack from Charizard with the Leaf Blade attack.

"Grab it and use Seismic Toss!" I shouted.

Charizard then grabbed Serperior's tail and swung the Grass-type around and around and around and around until finally letting go, throwing Serperior into the side of the mountain. Serperior raised back up and was a bit dazed by the attack.

"Energy Ball!" Cheren called out.

Serperior fired the ball of energy, hitting Charizard in the gut, but failed to do too much damage.

"Flamethrower!" I called out.

"Dodge it!" Cheren responded.

Charizard unleashed a stream of fire, but Serperior ducked under it.

"Now use Slam!" Cheren ordered.

Serperior slithered beneath the flames and slammed his tail up into Charizard's chin, cutting off the Flamethrower, and knocking the Fire/Flying-type back off his feet. Charizard landed on his back and Serperior smiled down at his opponent smugly.

Charizard growled and got back to his feet.

"Dragon Rush!" I ordered.

Charizard stood still and let the draconic energy swarm over him.

"Wait for it Serperior," Cheren said.

Charizard then shot off at Serperior in his dragon-shaped form of draconic energy.

"Hyper Beam to finish this!" Cheren ordered, taking Charizard and I both off guard.

Serperior fired a beam of powerful energy, hitting Charizard before he could deliver the Dragon Rush. He was knocked back by the beam of energy and crashed through half a dozen trees before coming to a stop.

Hilda, Spectra, Cheren, Serperior, and I all came running over to where Charizard stopped and we all saw he had been knocked out by the powerful move.

"Charizard is unable to battle and Nero is out of usable Pokémon, therefore, Cheren is the winner!" Hilda announced before giving me a sad look.

I knelt down by Charizard and put my hand on the top of his head.

"_Sorry Nero…_," he growled.

"It's okay, you did your best… We'll just have to be better next time," I said.

Charizard nodded. Cheren then returned Serperior to his Pokéball and handed me six items.

"These are Max Revives, they will help your Pokémon recover," Cheren explained.

"Thank you," I responded, nodding at him.

Cheren nodded back and then sighed.

"I spent the past couple of days thinking about what happened back in Chargestone Cave. You were right; Team Plasma needs to be stopped. I will help you with everything I have," Cheren said to me.

I returned Charizard to his Pokéball and stood to my feet.

"Thank you, Cheren," I said, nodding at him.

"Now come on, let's heal our Pokémon, and get to Icirrus City. It's right over the mountain," Cheren said.

I nodded and we healed our Pokémon before heading up the mountain. Snow covered the top of the route that led to Icirrus City. We then decided to stop for some lunch and let our Pokémon out to play in the snow.

I was sitting on a snow-covered rock next to Hilda when suddenly a snowball hit the both of us in the back of the head. We turned around and saw Spectra smiling deviously.

"Snowball fight!" I called out, jumping back from Hilda to hit her with a snowball.

Charizard, Honchkrow, Gengar, Sweetheart, and Braviary dropped snowballs onto everyone from overhead. Zoroark left a trail of illusions to confuse everyone while protecting Cubone from getting hit. Gallade, Aura, and Conkeldurr were using their fighting skills to block and dodge any snowballs that came their way. Gardevoir and Espio used their psychic abilities to throw snowballs at everyone. Bayleef, Nidorino, Scraggy, Haxorus, Sparx, Shadow, Icicle, Gigalith, Electivire, Liepard, and Serperior were all doing the best they could do with throwing snowballs.

I finally got Spectra back for instigating the snowball fight, hitting her in the face with one. She fell back and immediately began making snow angels. The rest of us then joined her. Even the Pokémon did their best to make a snow angel. We all had a great time despite everything that has happened so far.

We then packed up our things and continued our way to Icirrus City.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter XXVII**

Hilda, Spectra, Cheren, and I all arrived in Icirrus City and I made my way to the Pokémon Center first. I healed my Pokémon and then went to the Icirrus City Gym.

"I need to explain to the Gym Leader about Team Plasma and I might as well battle him while I'm there," I said to Hilda, Spectra, and Cheren.

"Nero!" a familiarly bubbly voice sounded off.

We all turned and saw Bianca running over to us. She then tripped over herself and was about to hit Hilda again, but Cheren caught her before she could fall.

"Thanks, Cheren!" Bianca exclaimed, kissing him on the cheek.

I noticed immediately that he was blushing while Bianca went on to talk with Hilda and Spectra.

"Bianca, not that I don't love you, but we were all going to go into the Gym and I was going to challenge the Gym Leader," I told her.

"Oh, okay, then I'll go in with you all and help cheer you on," Bianca said, smiling.

I nodded and we all walked into the Gym. It was freezing inside the Gym. Ice and snow covered the entire interior of it.

"Hello all. I got time for one more challenge, who shall challenge me?" the Gym Leader asked.

He was an older man with no shirt on. He had long gray hair and wore a mask over his face.

"I am," I said, stepping forward.

The Gym Leader nodded and then brought out three Pokéballs.

"My name is Brycen, challenger, and this match will be a three-on-three, no substitutions," the Gym Leader said.

"My name is Nero Hishiro, and I accept the conditions," I said.

"Good, now prepare yourself for a battle! Go Vanillish!" Brycen called out his first Pokémon.

I brought out my Pokédex.

"Vanillish, the Icy Snow Pokémon. They cool down the surrounding air and create ice particles, which they use to freeze their foes," my Pokédex said.

Vanillish have large, white, rounded upper bodies with a swirled substance on top, making it resemble a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Its eyes are dark blue with small, ice crystals at the sides. Vanillish has a dark blue mouth, two ice crystals below its mouth, and stubby, limbs that resemble icicles. It has a pointed lower body that resembles a large icicle. Vanillish lives in southern, snowy mountains, which it migrated to during an ancient ice age. It creates ice inside its body by drinking water, and expels it to hide itself or freeze opponents.

"Go Gallade!" I called out, sending the Psychic/Fighting-type Pokémon out.

"Vanillish, use Ice Beam!" Brycen called out.

"Dodge it and use Shock Wave!" I responded.

Vanillish fired a beam of ice at Gallade, but he jumped over it, and fired the twin discs of electricity, hitting the Ice-type hard.

"Psycho Cut!" I called out.

Gallade landed and fired twin crescents of psychic energy into the Ice-type.

"Now finish it with Close Combat!" I ordered.

Gallade ran forward and kicked Vanillish up in the air before jumping up and kicking the Ice-type once more, propelling Vanillish into the wall of the Gym, knocking it out.

"Vanillish is unable to battle," Brycen said, returning his own Pokémon to its Pokéball.

He looked at me and smiled.

"You're a strong battler," he admitted.

"Thank you," I said.

"But you'll need to be stronger!" Brycen called out, sending his second Pokémon out.

I aimed my Pokédex at it.

"Cryogonal, the Crystallizing Pokémon. They are composed of ice crystals. They capture prey with chains of ice, freezing the prey at negative a hundred and forty-eight degrees Fahrenheit," my Pokédex said.

Cryogonal resembles a shiny, blue hexagonal snowflake. Its facial expression is frozen, which leaves Cryogonal with a still, aggressive-looking face. Two cracks run through its face, the upper opening contains its eyes and the lower serves as a mouth. It has two glowing eyes and its large mouth contains an extendable chain of ice, which is used for hunting. When its body heat rises it will turn into steam and vanish, but will revert back to ice when the body temperature lowers. Cryogonal is born in snow clouds.

"Shadow Ball now!" Brycen ordered.

Cryogonal fired the ball of shadowy energy at Gallade.

"Dodge it!" I called out.

Gallade dodged the attack by jumping over it.

"Use Ice Beam to slip him up!" Brycen ordered.

Cryogonal iced the floor as Gallade landed and slipped.

"Finish this with Shadow Ball!" Brycen ordered.

Cryogonal fired the ball of shadowy energy at Gallade, knocking him out.

"Gallade is unable to battle," Brycen said.

I returned him to his Pokéball and readied my second Pokémon.

"Go Zoroark!" I called out.

Zoroark stood ready.

"Use Ice Beam, Cryogonal!" Brycen called out.

Cryogonal fired the beam of ice at Zoroark.

"Flamethrower!" I responded.

Zoroark breathed out a stream of fire that went straight through the Ice Beam and knocked Cryogonal out in one attack.

"Cryogonal is unable to battle," Brycen said, returning Cryogonal to its Pokéball.

He readied his final Pokémon for the battle and sent it out. I pulled my Pokédex out to get this Pokémon's information.

"Beartic, the Freezing Pokémon. They love the cold seas of the north. They create pathways across the ocean waters by freezing their own breath," my Pokédex said.

Beartic is an ursine, quadruped creature capable of standing on its hind legs. It has bluish white fur with a shaggy tuft at its rear. Three spikes of ice hang from its lower jaw, forming a beard. Its face consists of a long snout, beady black eyes, and rounded ears. Its large forepaws have black claws and paw pads. Beartic is capable of freezing its own breath, and will create pathways across water using this technique. It inhabits northern areas where it catches prey in the cold waters.

"Zoroark, use Night Slash!" I called out.

Zoroark ran forward with claws glowing with dark energy.

"Sheer Cold," Brycen ordered.

Beartic readied a ball of ice energy and hit Zoroark as she got close, knocking her out with one hit.

I stood there in absolute disbelief in how fast she was knocked out.

"Zoroark is unable to battle," Brycen said as I returned her to her Pokéball.

I then brought out Charizard. He roared as loud as he could at Beartic to show off his power.

"Now use Icicle Crash!" Brycen called out.

Beartic fired a barrage of icicles at Charizard.

"Dragon Claw to block!" I responded.

Both of Charizard's claws became shrouded in draconic energy and he swiped at all the incoming icicles.

"Ice Punch!" Brycen called out.

Charizard didn't see Beartic charge in and was punched in the face with Beartic's icy fist. Charizard growled.

"Seismic Toss!" I called out.

Charizard grabbed Beartic and lifted him off the ground. He flew straight up into the air before turning back down and slamming Beartic down onto the ground.

"Flamethrower and end this!" I called out.

Charizard then engulfed Beartic in flame, knocking the Fire-type out in one hit.

"Beartic is unable to battle, I am out of Pokémon, therefore, Nero Hishiro is the winner of the Gym match," Brycen said, returning Beartic to his Pokéball.

I clapped Charizard on the back and gave him a thumb's up.

"Thank you," I said to him.

"Nero Hishiro, you are one fantastic battler, here is the Icicle Badge," Brycen said, approaching me.

It was shaped like an iceberg or two icy mountains.

"Thank you. Now I need to tell you something very important," I said.

"Can it wait, I'm to be attending a masquerade ball tonight," Brycen said.

"Masquerade ball?" I asked.

"Yes, some philanthropist group called Team Plasma is throwing a masquerade ball that is open invitation. As Gym Leader, it is respective for me to attend," Brycen explained.

I looked at Hilda, Spectra, Cheren, and Bianca before returning my gaze onto Brycen.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter XXVIII**

Later that day, all four of us were getting ready for this masquerade ball that Team Plasma was throwing. I knew they were up to something and I was determined to find out. I had told Brycen what Team Plasma were all about, so he was aware of what was going on or what could happen. He decided not to attend the ball, instead watching the outside for any funny business.

Luckily, the market in Icirrus City was selling masks for those who wanted to attend the ball. Hilda and I grabbed masks that looked like a Gallade and a Gardevoir respectively. Spectra grabbed a mask that looked like a Pikachu, Cheren grabbed a Serperior mask, and Bianca grabbed a Samurott mask.

"Alright, everyone needs to be careful, and be ready for anything," I warned my friends as we approached hall where the masquerade ball was to be held.

A Team Plasma Grunt glared at us, but then put on a more friendly face.

"Please leave all your Pokémon with us, they will be placed in daycare-like setting," the Grunt said.

"Why can't we have our Pokémon with us?" I asked.

"Because it is against the rules of the ball," the Grunt said as politely as possible.

I gritted my teeth and handed over all six of my Pokéballs. Hilda, Spectra, Cheren, and Bianca handed all their Pokéballs over and we then walked into the hall.

A lot of well-dressed, masked people were already mingling and dancing.

"I'm going to go… scope the place out," Spectra said, walking away from us.

I know she what she was planning to do. She was trying to find N.

"Come on, Cheren, let's dance!" Bianca said, pulling the raven-haired young man away from Hilda and I.

Hilda and I looked at each other and then decided to join the dancing. I placed one of my hands on her hip and the other took her hand. We waltzed around the dance floor to the music and we were both having a good time despite the fact that I was nervous over what might be happening.

Spectra was exploring the border of the hall before a familiar voice caught her attention. She turned to face a young man with an N-shaped mask to hide his face.

"Hello Spectra," N greeted the kleptomaniac.

Cheren and Bianca danced amongst the others and were having a good time as well.

"Cheren, could you get me a drink?" Bianca asked.

"Sure, I'll be right back," Cheren responded.

He then left the blonde on the dance floor to get her a drink.

"Excuse me ma'am," an older man said to Bianca, getting her attention.

She turned and face a tall man with a fancy looking cane and a mask in the shape of Team Plasma's symbol. Bianca grew nervous in his presence.

"May I have this dance?" the man asked.

"Um… sure," Bianca relented and the man took her hand, leading Bianca away from where Cheren would expect her to be.

The Team Plasma Grunts had two large buckets full of Pokéballs and were dragging them away from the hall and toward a large truck with the Team Plasma symbol on its side.

"We got a great score for Colress to take control," one of the Grunts said.

"Yup!" the other agreed.

Suddenly one of the Grunts lost his grip on the bucket he was dragging and a couple of Pokéballs fell out. One specific one rolled and hit a rock, opening up, and sending Charizard out.

He looked at the two Grunts and growled.

"Oh shit," the other Grunt muttered, accidentally dropping his bucket and releasing Zoroark, Sparx, and Aura.

"_Get them_," Charizard growled, unleashing a Flamethrower onto the Grunts.

Hilda and I had just finished our second dance and I kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Hilda, I love you," I told her.

Hilda smiled and kissed me back.

"I love you too, Nero," she responded.

Spectra glared at N and looked ready to kick his ass.

"Please, I don't want to fight, can I just have this dance?" N asked.

"No, not while you're allied with Team Plasma," Spectra said, turning her back to him.

"So be it," N responded, walking away, not caring that Spectra had tears falling from her silver eyes.

Cheren walked back to where he had left Bianca with her drink in his hand.

"Bianca?" he questioned, looking around for her.

The music then stopped and a stage appeared from the ground. The older man walked up onto the stage with a smile on his face.

"So how is Icirrus City liking this masquerade ball?" he asked, getting my attention.

Hilda and I made our way to over where Spectra was standing. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at the man with the Team Plasma mask.

"My name is Ghetsis and I am the Leader of Team Plasma as well as the host of this ball," Ghetsis said.

Cheren then came up to me and looked concerned.

"I can't find Bianca," he said.

I then began looking for my childhood friend.

"Team Plasma, you see, is an organization that wishes to liberate Pokémon from abusive Trainers," Ghetsis said, twisting his words to seem less vile.

The crowd was buying it too. I was pushing my way through the crowd in my search for Bianca.

"But in my hopes for a free world for Pokémon, several selfish Trainers have gotten in my way," Ghetsis said.

Then a spotlight shone onto me.

"Nero Hishiro!" Ghetsis called out.

I turned and glared at the Team Plasma leader. Then a light shone onto Hilda.

"Hilda White!" Ghetsis called out.

She looked shocked at being pointed out by the Team Plasma leader.

"Spectra Flame!" Ghetsis called out as the light illuminated her.

"Cheren Black!" Ghetsis called out as the light illuminated him.

"And finally Bianca Belle!" Ghetsis called out, stepping a few steps to the left as the Shadow Triad dragged Bianca onto the stage.

"No…," I gasped, moving toward the stage, but several hidden Team Plasma Grunts began pushing me away from being able to save my friend.

"These five individuals have gotten in my way too many times! Now, I shall show them what I do to everyone that gets in my way!" Ghetsis called out, pulling a sword out of his cane.

He grabbed Bianca and pulled the sword back.

"Goodbye, my dear," Ghetsis said before stabbing his blade's full length through Bianca's stomach.

She gasped and Ghetsis pulled his sword out of her. She fell onto the stage and several members of the crowd screamed in shock at what they had just witnessed.

"BIANCA!" I called out, punching one of the Grunts in the face so hard it hurt my hand.

I pushed my way through the fleeing crowd and I could see Brycen running in as well. Ghetsis ignored the fact I was coming straight for him as he cleaned his sword. I entered my White Flare Form and threw a stream of fire at the man that had impaled my childhood friend, but the Shadow Triad immediately teleported him and themselves away. The flames went through straight air and I climbed onto the stage. Hilda, Spectra, Cheren, and Brycen joined me on the stage.

Bianca was laying on her back, staring up blankly into space.

"HELP!" I called out immediately, trying to stop the bleeding from Bianca's wound.

"Nero…," she said quietly.

I looked at her and blood started to drip out of the corner of her mouth.

"Bianca, hold on. Please, hold on," I pleaded with her.

"Nero…," she said quietly again.

"I'm here," I said, tears forming in my eyes.

"I… I… I love… I love you all…," she said.

A smile formed on her face and she closed her eyes. They never opened again.

"No… No, no, no, no… NO!" I yelled out in anguish.

Hilda was crying next to me. Cheren was standing there in shock. Spectra was looking away from Bianca's body.

I closed my eyes tightly as tears fell onto the bloodied stage.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled out in anguish again.


End file.
